How to Send Money to a Nigerian Bank Account from the UK (Latest Guide)

Choosing where to send money is easy — Nigeria. Choosing how it gets there without losing a chunk of it to fees and poor exchange rates is the harder part. For most people in the UK’s Nigerian diaspora, a direct deposit into the recipient’s bank account is the fastest, cheapest, and most traceable way to get pounds converted into naira. This guide explains exactly what you need, what it costs, and how to do it correctly the first time.

Why a Bank Account Is the Right Way to Send Money to Nigeria

Cash pickup feels simple, but it usually costs more and, for larger amounts, may not even be an option any more. Since the Central Bank of Nigeria’s revised guidelines for international money transfer operators took effect in January 2024 — and reaffirmed in circulars through 2026 — inbound transfers above the naira equivalent of $200 must be credited directly to a bank account. Only smaller amounts can still be collected over the counter as cash, and even then the recipient needs valid photo ID.

That regulatory shift lines up with what already made financial sense: bank deposits settle through Nigeria’s electronic clearing system (NIBSS), so money typically lands in minutes to a few hours rather than requiring a trip to a physical agent location. It’s also the delivery method every major provider prices most competitively, because it’s the cheapest one for them to process.

If your recipient occasionally needs cash instead — for an elderly parent without a bank account, for example — that’s still possible under the $200 threshold, and our broader guide on the best ways to send money to Nigeria from the UK covers cash pickup, mobile wallets, and card-to-card options side by side.

What You Need Before You Send

Have these details confirmed with your recipient before you open any app:

• Full legal name — exactly as it appears on the bank account. A mismatched middle name is the most common reason transfers get delayed or bounced back.
• Bank name — e.g. GTBank, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, UBA, or First Bank. Most apps will also ask you to select the bank from a list.
• NUBAN (account number) — a 10-digit number.
• A working phone number for the recipient, in case the provider or bank needs to verify anything.

Worth noting: funding your transfer is usually cheapest from a UK bank account rather than a card. If you’re still settling in and haven’t opened one yet, our guides on how to open a bank account in the UK and the best bank accounts for foreigners in the UK cover the options.

What Is a NUBAN?

NUBAN stands for Nigeria Uniform Bank Account Number. It’s a standardised 10-digit account number format that the Central Bank of Nigeria introduced in 2011 so that every bank account in the country could be identified the same way, regardless of which bank issued it. It plays a similar role to an IBAN in Europe or a sort code and account number in the UK. The final digit is a mathematically generated check digit, which is why a single mistyped number will usually get flagged as invalid rather than silently sending money to the wrong person. Ask your recipient to read their NUBAN back to you from their bank app or a recent statement rather than from memory.

What It Actually Costs: Fees and Exchange Rates Explained

Every transfer has two costs, and providers only advertise the one that makes them look cheapest. If you’re new to international transfers generally, our overview of the best ways to send money overseas is a useful starting point before you compare Nigeria-specific providers.

• The transfer fee — a flat charge or percentage shown upfront. This is the easy part to compare.
• The exchange-rate margin — the gap between the “mid-market rate” (the real rate you’d see on Google or XE, with no markup) and the rate the provider actually gives you. This is where most of the hidden cost lives, and it’s rarely advertised as clearly as the fee.

UK high street banks — Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest — typically charge a flat fee of around £15 to £25 for an international transfer, then apply a further 2–5% markup on the exchange rate. On a £1,000 transfer, that combination can cost £45–£85 more than a specialist provider, and the SWIFT transfer itself can take several business days. Specialist apps, by contrast, tend to charge either a small transparent fee with the mid-market rate (Wise’s model) or no fee at all with a small built-in margin (LemFi’s model), and they settle to Nigerian bank accounts in minutes rather than days.

As of August 2026, the GBP to NGN mid-market rate sits in the region of £1 = ₦1,830 to ₦1,845, though it has moved by more than ₦200 over the past year and shifts daily with Nigerian foreign exchange market conditions. Whatever the rate is on the day you send, the only number that matters is the naira amount your recipient actually receives after fees and margin — not the headline rate on a billboard. Our guide on how to avoid transfer fees breaks this comparison down in more detail if you send money regularly.

Best Providers for Sending to a Nigerian Bank Account

All four of the providers below are FCA-authorised in the UK, pay out directly to Nigerian bank accounts, and are commonly used by the Nigerian diaspora. None is the cheapest for every transfer size or every day — exchange rates move, and promotions come and go — so treat this as a shortlist to compare live, not a fixed ranking.

If you’re torn between two of these specifically, our head-to-head guides on LemFi vs Remitly and Remitly vs Wise for sending money to Africa score each provider across cost, speed, coverage, and regulation in more depth.

How to Send Money to a Nigerian Bank Account: Step by Step

1. Check the live mid-market rate on a free reference site so you know what “fair” looks like before comparing any provider’s quote.
2. Open two or three provider apps and enter the exact same amount and destination. Compare the naira figure your recipient would actually receive, not the advertised rate.
3. Confirm your recipient’s details — full legal name, bank name, and 10-digit NUBAN — directly with them rather than from an old message thread.
4. Choose your funding method. Paying from a UK bank account is almost always cheaper than paying by debit or credit card.
5. Select “bank deposit” as the delivery method and enter the recipient’s bank and NUBAN exactly as they gave it to you.
6. Review the total before confirming — the app should show the exact naira amount your recipient will receive and the exact fee you’re being charged.
7. Send, then share the reference number with your recipient so they can query it with their bank if it doesn’t appear promptly.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Sending to the wrong name. Bank deposits in Nigeria are usually matched by account number, not name, so a wrong NUBAN can send money to a stranger. Double-check every digit.
• Comparing the advertised rate instead of the receive amount. A “0% fee” provider can still be more expensive than one charging a small fee, once the exchange-rate margin is factored in.
• Assuming your first-transfer rate is permanent. Several providers offer a strong promotional rate once, then revert to a standard margin from the second transfer onward.
• Funding by credit card for a routine transfer. Card payments are usually the most expensive way to fund a transfer and may also incur a cash-advance fee from your card issuer.
• Ignoring transfer limits. If you’re sending a large one-off amount — for a property purchase or school fees, for example — check the provider’s daily and monthly limits first, or you may need extra identity verification mid-transfer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict

For most people supporting family or managing finances in Nigeria from the UK, sending straight to a bank account is the cheapest, fastest, and — for anything over the naira equivalent of $200 — the required way to do it. Compare Wise and LemFi first for the best all-round value on regular transfers, keep WorldRemit and Remitly in mind for speed or a strong first-transfer rate, and always run the same amount through two apps before you send. That five-minute habit, repeated every time, is worth more over a year than loyalty to any single provider.