AI agents for business finance: what they can and can't do
What AI agents can do in bookkeeping, close, collections and compliance today, where a person must stay in charge, and how to judge a product.
The short answer
If you sell to people in Nigeria while living in the UK, the cleanest set-up is a naira account in your own name that buyers pay by ordinary local transfer. Keep the naira for costs at home, convert only what you need in pounds, and keep a record of every sale. If you are UK tax resident, the income generally needs to be reported in the UK, whatever currency it arrives in.
Plenty of Nigerians in the UK sell to customers at home: clothes and hair sent in boxes, phones and laptops, digital services, tutoring, design work. Buyers in Nigeria want to pay in naira, by the transfer they use every day. This guide covers how to take that money properly while you are abroad, and what to watch for.
Why the account should be in your own name
When a buyer makes a local transfer, their app shows the name on the receiving account before they confirm. If that name is yours, the buyer can see they are paying the person they agreed with. If it is a cousin's or a friend's, you are relying on trust twice, and you have no direct control over money that is legally theirs.
Letting other people's money pass through your account, or using someone else's account for your sales, also carries real risk. Accounts used to move money for others are a known route for fraud, and the account holder is the one who answers for it. Our guide to money mule warnings explains how this goes wrong.
Setting up to receive
- Hold a naira account with a 10-digit NUBAN in your own name. If you need a BVN from abroad, see holding a naira account from the UK.
- Use one account for sales, separate from family money, so your records are clean.
- Share the same account name and number everywhere: your page, invoices, chats.
- Make sure you can log in and approve payments from the UK without a Nigerian SIM.
- Decide a routine for converting surplus naira, rather than converting each sale.
Hold naira for naira costs
Much of the money from Nigerian sales goes straight back into naira costs: a supplier in Lagos, local delivery, a relative who packs and ships, airtime for customer chats. Paying those from the naira you received avoids converting twice. Only the surplus, the money you need for life in the UK, needs to become pounds.
Pricing matters here too. If you price in naira, you carry the exchange rate risk between the sale and the moment you convert. If your own costs are in pounds, review your naira prices on a regular schedule, so a weaker naira does not quietly erase your margin.
Worked example
Example only, with assumed figures. In a month you receive ₦1,800,000 from buyers. You pay ₦650,000 to a supplier and ₦150,000 for local delivery, leaving ₦1,000,000. At an assumed ₦2,000 per pound, converting that surplus gives £500 before any fee. Converting the full ₦1,800,000 and then buying back ₦800,000 to pay costs would have meant paying the conversion margin on ₦2,600,000 in total instead of ₦1,000,000.
When a buyer's payment goes wrong
Local transfers in Nigeria can fail or arrive late. If a buyer says they have paid and nothing has arrived, ask for the transfer receipt with its session ID before you ship anything. A session ID lets both banks trace the payment. Do not release goods on a screenshot alone; edited screenshots of transfers are a common trick.
- Confirm the credit in your own app, not from the buyer's message.
- If a payment is reversed after you have shipped, contact your bank with the reference and your record of the sale.
- If a buyer pays the wrong amount, refund or adjust from the same account so the trail is clear.
Records and receipts
Keep a simple record of each sale: date, buyer, item, naira amount, and the transfer reference. It answers three questions you may be asked later.
- From a buyer: proof they paid and what for. A clear receipt prevents disputes.
- From a UK bank: where money arriving from Nigeria came from. See when a UK bank asks about money from Nigeria.
- From HMRC: what you earned and when, converted to pounds.
Tax and visa points to check
This is information, not advice. LITRG's guidance notes that UK residents generally must report all their UK and foreign income and gains to HMRC, with limited exceptions. On the Nigerian side, PwC's tax summary says non-residents are taxed in Nigeria only on Nigerian-sourced income, and the NGEX diaspora guide hosted by NiDCOM says income for services physically rendered outside Nigeria is not taxable in Nigeria unless you are tax resident there. Where a sale is sourced is a question of facts, so check it for your situation.
If you are in the UK on a visa, check whether your conditions allow self-employment before you start selling; side income on a UK visa sets out what to look for.
Where Pryme fits
A Pryme Personal Account opened from the UK gives you a naira account number in your own name alongside pound details, so buyers at home pay by local transfer and you convert surplus with Swap when you choose, seeing the rate and fee first. You can also issue a verifiable receipt that a buyer can check is genuine and unaltered.
Questions people ask
Can Nigerian customers pay me in naira if I live in the UK?
Yes. With a naira account in your own name and a NUBAN, they pay by an ordinary local transfer and see your name before they confirm.
Is it safe to use a relative's Nigerian account to collect my sales?
It puts your money in someone else's legal control and makes records harder. Using an account in your own name is cleaner and safer.
Do I pay UK tax on money from selling to Nigerians?
If you are UK tax resident, foreign income generally needs reporting to HMRC. Check GOV.UK guidance or an adviser for your case.
Should I convert every naira payment to pounds?
Usually not. Pay naira costs from naira first and convert only the surplus, so you pay the conversion margin on less money.
Sources
- Foreign income and gains regime (tax years from 2025/26), LITRG (updated 6 April 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Nigeria: Individual taxes, PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries (reviewed 29 May 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- NGEX Diaspora Guide to Nigeria's 2026 tax reforms, hosted by NiDCOM (Dec 2025/Jan 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.