Unregistered IMTOs: CBN warns Nigerians over Azimo, Transfer Wise

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has alerted the public on the activities of two unauthorised International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs), Messrs Azimo and Transfer Wise.

The Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr Osita Nwanisobi in a statement on Wednesday urged the public not to do business with both companies.

According to him, “The attention of the CBN has been drawn to the activities of Messrs Azimo and Transfer Wise, both of which are purportedly transacting business, albeit unauthorised, as IMTOs.

“The bank wishes to notify the general public that neither Messrs Azimo nor Transfer Wise is licensed by the CBN to operate as an IMTO.

“The public is, therefore, advised desisting from patronising the companies forthwith.

“Anyone who patronises the unregistered companies does so at his or her own risk,” he warned.

In line with its commitment to promoting a strong and credible payment system, the CBN recently approved new license categorisations for the payments system.

The apex bank had announced that the new framework offered clarity for new and existing market participants.

Meanwhile, some of the banks operating in the country had issued disclaimers against Azimo, a money transfer application that claims to facilitate global money transfers.

First Bank sent a disclaimer to its customers, however nearly all the banks on the list posted on the website of Azimo have put out a disclaimer. This includes Fidelity Bank, UBA, GT Bank, Zenith, and First Bank.

In one of the emails sent to its customers by a bank, it warned its customers that it is not one of the receiving banks on the platform and that Azimo is also not a registered IMTO.

“We disclaim the listing of FirstBank as one of the receiving or paying Banks on Azimo.com by Azimo Limited, offering Global Money Transfer Services. FirstBank has no affiliation with Azimo and hereby publicly disassociates itself from it. Azimo is not a registered Money Transfer

Service with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as such, not licensed in Nigeria. Anyone who transacts with Azimo is therefore doing so at his/her peril.”

Another email from a bank revealed that informed Azimo to take out their name for their list of partner banks. “We have written to Azimo to take down the misleading advertisement and have put up this disclaimer to correct the misrepresentation.”

In another email, one of the leading banks complained that including their name as one of the agent banks could attract regulatory sanctions.

“This act of yours is unprofessional and illegal capable of sending a wrong signal to the public that the Bank is in some sort of alliance with or support your operations, thereby exposing it to regulatory sanctions in Nigeria.”