Naija-UK Money | Trending Sheet Editorial
If you send money home to Nigeria, you have probably heard the standard advice: watch the hidden exchange-rate margin, because the fee is not the real cost. We spent a day checking what every major app actually pays out on the London to Lagos corridor, and the standard advice turns out to be wrong in an interesting way. On this corridor, several apps currently pay out MORE naira than the official mid-market rate. The real question is not who skims least. It is who turns your pounds into the most naira today, and it changes week to week.
What each provider offered, checked 23 to 24 July 2026
Sorted by the exchange rate offered, best first. All figures carry the date we checked them; rates on this corridor move daily, so treat this as a photograph, not a promise.
| Provider | Fee on £200 | Rate offered | Naira on £200 | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MoneyGram | £0.99 | 1,863.93 | ₦931,966 on £500 (best payout we saw) | 23 Jul |
| WorldRemit | £0.99 | 1,857.76 | ₦369,713 | 23-24 Jul |
| Paysend | £0 | 1,854.60 | ₦927,298 on £500 | 23 Jul |
| Remitly | £0 (promo on first £250) | 1,842.44 (at £5,000) | see notes | 24 Jul |
| LemFi | £0 | 1,830.00 | ₦366,000 | 27 Jun |
| TapTap Send | £0 | 1,828.00 | ₦365,600 | 27 Jun |
| Wise | £1.77 (bank pay-in) | 1,824.49 (its mid-market) | ₦361,669 | 24 Jul (live) |
| Western Union | £2.99 (at £1,000) | 1,812.24 | ₦1,806,818 on £1,000 | 24 Jul |
| Sendwave | £0 | rate shown in-app only | not verifiable | 24 Jul |
| NALA | £0.99 bank / £0 mobile money | rate shown in-app only | not verifiable | 24 Jul |
| MonieWorld | £0 | rate shown in-app only | not verifiable | 24 Jul |
How we checked: Wise figures come from its live pricing system on 24 July. Western Union from its published £1,000 online quote the same day. WorldRemit, Paysend and MoneyGram from a same-day comparison engine on 23 July. LemFi and TapTap Send publish no live rate table, so those rates come from a dated independent review on 27 June, with their £0 fees confirmed on their own sites on 24 July. Sendwave, NALA and MonieWorld only show rates inside the app. For scale, the mid-market rate itself was between 1,817 and 1,840 depending on which feed you trust, and that disagreement matters more than most of these margins.
The three things that actually decide what lands in Lagos
Zero fees are the norm, not a deal. LemFi, TapTap Send, Sendwave, Paysend and MonieWorld all charge nothing permanently. MonieWorld says plainly that it makes its money on a small markup to the rate. A £0 fee tells you where the cost is hiding, not that there is no cost.
Promotional rates are a shop window. Remitly gives new customers a special rate and no fees on the first £250, then standard pricing applies. WorldRemit runs a one-time fee-free offer on naira transfers. Fine to use, once each, but judge every app by its everyday rate.
How you pay changes the price. The same £200 on Wise costs £1.77 by bank transfer and £6.16 by credit card. Same app, same screen, three and a half times the cost.
Safety, in one paragraph
Every provider in our table is FCA-authorised or operates under an FCA-authorised institution, and all hold your money under e-money safeguarding rules. None of them carry FSCS protection, the scheme that covers bank deposits up to £85,000, because they are payment firms, not banks. Send with them, do not store savings in them. One name has left entirely: Zing, the HSBC app, closed in May 2025. And for context, the World Bank puts the average cost of sending money from the UK at 4.61%: most of the big apps on this corridor beat that comfortably.
What we will do next
This table is the first edition of a living page. We will re-check the corridor monthly, date every figure, and note every change. If a provider on this list looks wrong, check the app on the day: the rate you see at the moment of sending is the only one that counts.
This is information, not financial advice. We compare published costs; we do not advise on timing, currency movements or individual circumstances. Figures were checked on the dates shown and will change. All providers listed are FCA-authorised or agents of FCA-authorised firms; always confirm the final rate in the app before sending.
