The CBN's new IMTO directive came into force on May 1. Every operator routing money to Nigeria now has to route transfers through designated naira settlement accounts and benchmark rates using Bloomberg BMATCH. The reader sending money home this week is about to find out what it means in practice.

The CBN issued the directive in March. The deadline was Thursday. It is now in force.

Nigeria receives an estimated $20 billion in remittances a year. A portion has historically moved through informal or semi-formal channels the CBN cannot see or price. The new rules pull those flows into the official FX market. The stated goal is legitimate. Better visibility over dollar inflows, proper rate benchmarking, a paper trail for every transfer through a licensed operator.

What it means for the person sending £200 from Peckham to Lagos is that operators will either absorb the new compliance costs or pass them on. If they absorb it, margins shrink and some operators may not survive it. If they pass it on, the sender pays more, the recipient gets less, or both.

Which operators are ready and which are not has not been reported. The compliance window was five weeks. Some operators will have moved faster than others. The person sending money home this week is the first data point.