Retail foreign exchange, Travelex, last week commenced the pilot roll
out of the recently strategic outsourcing partnership it had with the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This is even as it announced investment
of over one million pounds (about N240million)in infrastructure, human
capital development and equipment in its Nigerian operation.The strategic partnership with CBN resulted in the establishment of high technology cash distribution centre with a pilot scheme in Lagos and with a plan to roll out in other parts of the country to process the forex requirements of BDCs.
The initial phase of the roll out is for Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano. The Lagos centre is already operational with 920 out of 944 BDCs order placed, recording smooth transactions within two and half hours. The rest will enjoy the service after perfecting their registration into the service which is entirely an electronic system. It’s a leap from manual to technological update
According to Tony Enwereji, General Manager, Travelex Nigeria, the cash distribution centres project is a migration away from the manual to an electronic service system. He explained that it is a system managed process that ensures transactions are fully automated. This effort is geared towards bringing BDCs in Nigeria into a world of International best practices.
“This is quicker, faster and more efficient. It requires biometric identification (finger prints) of the BDC operators and a card to gain access with every detail, including the picture tracked. The system has a quick audit trail and takes a maximum of 32 seconds to process a request. The system is automated, no manual over-ride, there is also provision to confirm and count your cash”, he stated. In all, he stated that compliance is critical to Travelex and they hope to improve and resolve any issue that arises from the pilot exercise.
He noted that the CBN partnership is buoyed up by confidence in Travelex’s global experience and reach as the world’s leading foreign exchange specialist and the leading supplier of outsourced foreign currency services.
The company however said that as an indication of its clear resolve to develop world-class financial services in the country, it has in the past two years, invested over one million pounds (about N240million) infrastructure, human capital development and equipment in its Nigerian operation. For the company, this is to ensure smooth foreign exchange services to the Nigerian financial system.
Director, Sales and Bank Notes, Travelex Group UK Ltd. Mark Smith, at the weekend noted that the one million pound investment is a testimony to the group’s commitment to expanding and modernizing foreign exchange transactions in Nigeria.
Smith expressed optimism that the investment will yield the desired result, while underlining Travelex’s Commitment to increased investment in Nigeria. “Travelex has invested a million pounds in Nigeria in the last two years in an effort to build a world-class service in the country and we are investing further. We want to open more bureau de change (BDC) offices in airports across the country.
“We are hoping to bring more products and services for the BDCs. We are employing more and more Nigerians, and I think our success and commitment is likely to attract more British companies to come and do business in the country”, Smith stated.
As part of the intended investment, the company will build six new BDCs to be located in the new look airports in Lagos, Abuja and PortHarcourt. This project is designed to enhance smooth forex services to Nigeria’s increasing international passenger traffic trade and also offer quality services and employment to more than 100 Nigerians in the short term.
While acknowledging that the Nigerian business environment like many others around the world remains quite challenging, the Travelex senior executive described his company’s experience in the Nigerian economy as good and worthwhile.
“The cost of doing business here is high because of infrastructural challenges. We know it is not easy but we can’t give up because we know it will be worthwhile in the long run. We are determined to continue doing business in the country”, he re-assured.
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