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GT Bank Introduces International Money Transfer Service

Jun 20, 2008, 2:50 AM | Article By: By Baboucarr Senghore

In its relentless efforts to meet the banking needs of its regional customers, Guaranty Trust Bank, has gone a step further to introduce GT Bank International Money Transfer (GTMT) service.

The service, which is expected to initially start within the West African sub-region, will now enable customers as well as non-customers of the bank to receive and send money with ease and speed. With the presence of GT Bank in four countries across West Africa, the GTMT service would squarely solve the perennial problem associated with money transfer within the sub-region.

In essence, this new product will also enable customers and non-customers of the bank in Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone to walk into any of the various branches of the bank in any of these countries to receive and send money.

The product has a number of advantages and benefits over existing modes of money transfer. Firstly, it is instant and secured. A customer only needs to walk into any of GT Bank branches with cash and within minutes, the sender would be given a pin code for the receiver to use in collecting the transferred funds.

Secondly, it is relatively cheaper than other existing modes of transfer as its charges a flat rate of 3% on amounts above $300, while a flat sum of $10 is charged for amounts below $300.

Interestingly also, the service is available to both account and non-account holders of all Guaranty Trust Banks in Nigeria, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Ghana.

There is also a fixed exchange rate as the payment and receipt of funds is in US dollars unless the recipient requests for the local currency. Users could also make a huge transfer of up to a limit of $10,000 per transaction.

According to the Managing Director of GT Bank (Gambia) Ltd Mr. Lekan Sanusi, "The fixed exchange rate would eliminate the high risk of customers getting huge losses as the exchange rate of the US Dollar changes on daily basis.

"At GT Bank, customer satisfaction is second to none in anything we do," he added.

He pointed out that with the large presence of Nigerian, Sierra Leonean and Ghanaian populations in The Gambia, GTMT would be highly welcomed.

Commenting on the reliability of the GTMT service, Mr Bolaji Ayodele, GTB (Gambia) General Manager who also heads the operations division, said the reliability of the new service is devoid of any short coming as it immediately notifies the sender of the transaction by email message.

Mr. Ayodele went on to say that when the receiver finally receives the money, an email message is automatically sent to the sender for notification of receipt of the money.