The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Travelex

  • BDCs tackle Travelex over cash refund

    BDCs tackle Travelex over cash refund

    Several Bureau De Change (BDC) operators are accusing Travelex Nigeria of delaying cash refund from failed foreign (forex) exchange bids.

    The BDCs insist that refunds from unsuccessful bids, which should come between 24 and 48 hours, take two or more weeks, with the affected BDC operators staying out of business.

    Such practice, financial pundits said, may be hurting efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to deepen dollar supply and strengthen the naira against the dollar.

    Travelex, a global forex dealer was authorised by the CBN to directly disburse forex to BDC operators who have fully completed documentations and provided adequate funding to Travelex Nigeria for their (BDCs) weekly dollar purchases.

    The CBN had approved $40,000 (N15 million) weekly per BDC to deepen dollar liquidity, sustain operators’ businesses and achieve naira stability. The funds come in two-tranches of $20,000 and can only be accessed by operators with successful bids, and have met full regulatory requirements.

    “When BDCs pay through their banks pay to Travelex and the bids are not successful because of incomplete documentation or any other issue, the funds coming back remain a herculean tax. Many of us just keep waiting endlessly to get the funds back and that is affecting our operations and hurting the expected impact on the economy,” an operator who asked not to be named said.

    Speaking further, the source said that in many occasions, Travelex claimed that the funds have been refunded to the beneficiaries’ accounts, but the refunds were still not received.

    Confirming the development, President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) Aminu Gwadabe, said the delay in refunding such cash remains a serious challenge to many BDCs, especially with many operators not having extra cash to go for fresh bids.

    He said many operators affected by the refund crisis always wait for the cash to come, which normally takes time, and at the detriment of their business.

    He said that Travelex Nigeria has identified the problem, and promised to work with its bank to develop a technology that will enable it identify and refund unsuccessful bid cash immediately.

    But when contacted, General Manager, Travelex Nigeria, Anthony Enwereji, said many of the BDCs do not make their payments through the right channel. He said some operators pay through Automated Teller Machines, some pay through their wives accounts, making reconciliation difficult.

    He said the CBN had investigated some of the BDCs complaints against his company, and found out that Travelex Nigeria was not liable.

    Enwereji said there were three parties to the BDCs transactions- the BDCs’ banks, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) and the beneficiary account. He insisted that it was wrong to blame Travelex Nigeria for the problem.

    He said his company was  working on technology-driven reconciliation to ensure that the problems were solved speedily. He said his company had been processing over 1,600 bids from BDCs twice weekly, and had done its best to provide them quality services.

    Travelex is the world’s largest foreign exchange bureau specialized in international payments, bureaux de change and issuing prepaid credit cards for use by travelers. In 2000, it bought Thomas Cook’s worldwide forex business for 440 million Pounds Sterling, which significantly expanded its international operations.

     

  • Dollar scarcity persists as demand overwhelms Travelex

    Dollar scarcity persists as demand overwhelms Travelex

    • CBN sells $313m

    Dollar scarcity has been linked to the inability of Travelex, the sole dollar distributor appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to meet increasing demand from bureaux de change (BDCs).

    The three-week-old pilot scheme which allows Travelex to solely sell dollars to BDCs seems to be faltering, it was learnt yesterday.

    Travelex, a global forex dealer, was last month appointed the sole dollar distributor by the CBN but the firm does not have the spread to cover over 3,000 BDCs across the six geopolitical zones.

    A source said Travelex, which sold dollars to a little above 1,000 out of 3,000 BDCs nationwide, was only focusing on the Lagos market, while demands from other regions were not met. The figure was also far less than the 1,600 BDCs within the Lagos market.

    BDCs in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Benin, Maiduguri, Onitsha and other major cities are yet to get dollars since Travelex started the distribution role, the source said.

    Travelex Nigeria General Manager, Anthony Enwereji said the project was a pilot scheme with the policy direction still under study. He, however, said that since Travelex was appointed to sell dollars to BDCs, the naira exchange rate against the dollar has improved.

    The CBN last month stopped banks from accessing Diaspora remittances estimated at $21 billion annually, after it was discovered that the lenders were not playing by the rules.

    A source said despite the pressure from the BDCs for the CBN to approve more independent dollar distributors, nothing is being done about it. “We need more dollar distributors that would serve BDCs outside the Lagos market,” the source said.

    Travelex is the world’s largest foreign exchange bureau. It has in recent months been opening retail shops across major locations in Nigeria, such as airports and highbrow areas to enable it meet the rising forex demand, and fill the vacuum created by the apex bank’s stoppage of the Deposit Money Banks from selling dollars to BDCs.

  • CBN positions Travelex to replace BDCs

    CBN positions Travelex to replace BDCs

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is grooming Travelex, a global foreign exchange (forex) dealer, to replace Bureaux De Change operators (BDCs) to retail forex for end users, The Nation has learnt.

    Travelex is the world’s largest foreign exchange bureau specialised in international payments, bureaux de change and issuing prepaid credit cards for travellers. In 2000, it bought Thomas Cook’s worldwide forex business for £440 million, expanding significantly its international operations.

    Travelex has been opening retail shops at airports and in highbrow areas to enable it meet the rising forex demand, and fill the vacuum created by the CBN’s stoppage of dollar sales to BDCs.

    Some of the outlets are in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Abuja, Travelex said in a statement last September.

    The CBN on Monday suspended dollar sales to BDCs to conserve the foreign reserves and protect the naira. The move is also meant to enable the apex bank meet forex demand by domestic importers.

    Aminu Gwadabe, Chief Executive Officer, SABIL Bureau De Change Limited, who confirmed the development, said CBN’s desperation to meet dollar demands from banks, government agencies and importers prompted it to give dollar import licence to Travelex.

    Gwadabe, who doubles as the President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) said Travelex has secured approval to open more offices across the country where dollar will be directly sold to banks, government and other end-users in a move to bridge the supply gap in the economy.

    But CBN spokesman Ibrahim Mu’azu said Travelex will not take the place of BDCs. He, however, said the CBN’s stoppage of BDCs’ funding will create more room for Travelex to control the retail market space.

    He said: “They (Travelex) have been in the market for a long time and will do more retail than before, going forward.”

    Gwadabe insisted that although licensed as a wholesale supplier and forex importer into Nigeria, the intention of Travelex is to take over the retail segment of the forex market, where BDCs operate.

    “In 2001, when the Joseph Sanusi-led CBN decided to allow BDCs sell Travelers Cheques, Travelex received the permission of the CBN to open desks in the branches of some banks to sell Travelers Cheques to the public.

    “On the other hand, Travelex allegedly made it difficult for BDCs to access Travelers Cheques to sell to the public as intended by the CBN,” he said, adding that the CBN’s decision at that time failed to bridge the gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates.

    Gwadabe claimed the long-term plan of the CBN was to replace BDCs with Travelex outlets, which will begin operation soon.

    “You know Travelex is a registered BDC operator in Nigeria and is involved in the retailing of forex. They are both importer and distributor of dollar in the country. This function of distributing dollars from the CBN to BDCs is outsourced to Travelex by the CBN for over three years now,” he said.

    A text message sent to General Manager, Travelex Nigeria, Anthony Enwereji, was not responded to. But he had earlier admitted that the company sells dollar at very low rate – in line with regulatory guidelines and that is its advantage over the BDCs.

     

  • Travelex eases forex transactions

    Travelex, a global leader in foreign currency (forex) operations, has recorded yet another milestone in its efforts to provide customers quality currency services all the time.

    With  successful business partnership arrangement between the company and UAE Exchange Group (a global, technology-driven money transfer firm spread across over 30 countries in the world), Travelex is promising its Nigerian customers a more robust and seamless foreign exchange transaction regime.

    To underscore the importance the two companies attach to smooth financial operations in the country and economic growth, CEO of Travelex Worldwide and UAE Exchange Group, Anthony Wagerman and Promoth Monghat, respectively are billed to arrive the country soon to further strengthen Travelex’s operations, and open new investment windows in Nigeria.

    Travelex has maintained strong commitment to the economic growth of Nigeria, playing a leading role in forex services and management in the over 35 years of its operation in the country, formerly as Thomas Cook.

    UAE Exchange Group on the other hand has enormous investment in compliance technology solutions that help provide real-time alerts for financial transactions including money laundering and fraud detection. The Group’s turnover as at 2014 stood at $53 billion.

    Travelex Nigeria working with UAE Exchange promises customers in the country much more innovative products and services in the years ahead.

    This Monghat disclosed, is already in operation in some markets such as the US and Canada where businesses are mainly online, and considering the increasing growth of online business in the country, the phone apps solution will thrive.