Buying and Selling Alertpay funds in Nigeria

Posted by Felix Okoli on Wednesday December 14, 2011 9:48:20:

In my previous article on e-currencies business, I pointed out that it was a lucrative and easy business to do. Alertpay is a form or electronic currency people use to send and receive money online just like Paypal and it's even a safe e-currency exchange business to do unlike Paypal who may ban your account once they know you are Nigerian. Alertpay however doesn't discriminate and they are a lot of people willing to fund and withdraw from their Alertpay accounts without having to go through the long process of banks or international cheque.

What this sort of business involves is:
- Helping people to fund their alertpay account
- Helping clients to withdraw from their Alertpay account

Things you would need:
- Probably need a website for marketing and receiving orders. see examples of ecurrency sites eg. epaymonster.com, instantgoldng.com
- Decide on your profit margin

How do you really make the money?
You simple make the money by charging people a commission for doing any of those transfers. Since Alertpay accounts in Nigeria are in us dollars, you may charge clients 10% inclusive commission for fundind and then 15% for withdrawals.
So assuming someone wants to fund his Alertpay account with $100, you could sell it to him at $110 and if he wants to withdraw, you could buy it from him at $90.
In essence, since you are in Nigeria doing a business, you would have to receive payments or make payments by means of naira cash deposits at their bank accounts. So if using the fees mentioned above, if someone wants to buy alertpay funds from you, you could sell $100 at N17,600(i.e. $110*160). If another person wants to then sell Alertpay funds to you, you could buy $100 from him at N14,400(i.e. $90*160).
Things you would have to put in mind are the current exchange rate and the identity of your customers.
So at the end of the business period, your profit would be the commission from sales and purchases of Alertpay funds you have made. You get a commission for funding and withdrawals made with your assistance.

Safety tips
- Register a business name and bank account to keep records of all payments and receipts
- Don't accept direct cash payments. Let it go through banks
- Let customers sign up with your website and let them submit valid forms of identification
- Funds like Alertpay can be reversed after 45 days, so when buying, make sure that the person doesn't reverse the payment