The effect of remittance inflow on savings in Nigeria: The role of financial inclusion

Abstract While recent literature has pointed to a positive effect of remittance inflow on the financial development of receiving countries, findings on its effect on the saving patterns of recipients have received little attention. This study examines the effect of remittance inflows on savings and the moderating role of financial inclusion in Nigeria. In analyzing the data, a binary logit model was employed. Using World Bank survey data on 3000 Nigerians, we found that individuals with a bank account either on their mobile or with a financial institution (FI) are more likely to save compared to individuals without any account. This likelihood of saving doubles if individuals have both mobile and FI accounts. In addition, individuals who have received remittances are more likely to save than those who have not received any remittances. Lastly, we find that having a bank account and receiving remittances combine to make individuals more likely to save. Government policies should focus on leveraging remittance inflows by improving financial inclusion to facilitate savings and investment in Nigeria.

sectors, promote capital production for a growing economy. Consequently, a considerable fraction of most developing countries rely primarily on foreign capital inflows to bridge the desired resource gap created by insufficient domestic savings. The sources of these inflows include foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio investment, foreign aid, and overseas remittances.
The inflow of capital through international remittances in emerging economies has received widespread attention from the media, governments, development agencies, and the private sector because of its rising volume and dynamic economic impact on remittance-receiving countries. According to the IMF, remittances represent household income from foreign economies arising mainly from the temporary or permanent movement of people to those economies. Remittances are becoming increasingly important sources of income and, potentially, investment capital for households, as well as a stable source of external finance for governments in these countries. This inflow is the second largest source of foreign capital after exports and is quite large compared to foreign aid and FDI.
In Africa, the high contribution of remittance-to-GDP of these countries is worth mentioning, which also justifies their dependency on such inflows. According to IFAD estimates, in 2021, over 30 million individuals living outside their countries of origin jointly contributed about US$95 billion, benefiting over 200 million family members of African migrant workers. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the remittance inflows constitute 2.5% of GDP in 2020, amounting to $37 billion in the year under review. Remittance inflows to Sub-Saharan Africa soared from 14.1 percent to $49 billion in 2021 following an 8.1 percent decline in the prior year. Around 60 percent of total inflows originate from advanced economies such as France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In West Africa, the country that received the largest remittance inflows was Nigeria amounting to $17.21 billion in 2020, depicting a 6.6% decline before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Bank, Nigeria accounts for 50% of remittances to sub-Saharan Africa, with an increase in its remittances to $17.6 billion, which increases SSA remittance inflows to $45 billion by 2021.
Saving and financial inclusion face significant challenges in Nigeria. According to recent statistics, a substantial portion of the population remains unbanked or underbanked, particularly in rural areas where access to formal financial services is limited. In addition, low-income levels and informal financial practices hinder the ability of many Nigerians to save. Lack of financial literacy and awareness further exacerbates the problem (Adetunji & David-West, 2019). Economic challenges, including high inflation rates and currency devaluation, discourage savings, while technological barriers impede the adoption of digital financial services (Wayne et al., 2020). The general consensus is that receipt of additional income such as remittance can improve the livelihood of individuals and encourage savings. The resultant effect is more pronounced when individuals are financially included. Stated differently, the benefits of remittance inflow are limited for an economy where a large fraction of the populace is financially excluded. Therefore, the focus of the Nigerian government and the relevant stakeholders has been on financial development. For instance, the recent currency redesign was purposely meant to recall the huge amount of cash outside the financial system and enhance financial intermediation.
Motivation to remit is often influenced by a combination of economic and social factors, such as self-interest, altruism, investment, loan repayment, and bequest motives (Lucas & Stark, 1985;Rapoport & Docquier, 2006). A large body of literature has examined the role of remittances on investment in microenterprises, asset accumulation, poverty, inequality, health, and education (Acosta et al., 2007;Adams & Page, 2005;Ajefu, 2018;Amuedo-Dorantes, 2014). Particularly for Nigeria, a number of studies have examined the role of remittances on financial inclusion (Ajefu & Ogebe, 2019), financial development (Omobolanle et al., 2019), exchange rates (Adejumo & Ikhide, 2019), and labour force participation (Nwokoye et al., 2020). Fowowe (2020), Adegbite and Machethe (2020), and Awaworyi Churchill et al. (2020) are some of the recent studies that have investigated the effect of financial inclusion in Nigeria. Apanisile (2021) recently looked at how remittance and financial development interact to influence monetary policy in Nigeria. Earlier debates on the migration-development nexus argued that remittances are used mainly for subsistence consumption and other non-productive spending. In contrast, Quartey et al. (2018) confirmed that remittances are invested in productive investments, such as purchasing land, establishing small enterprises, and farm investments. This finding indicates that the inflow of remittance can positively impact investment via savings.
Although the literature on Nigeria has investigated the role of financial inclusion, none of the studies examined the simultaneous effect of having mobile and financial institution (FI) accounts on savings. The closest study to our work is Adetunji and David-West (2019) who examined the impact of financial literacy on savings in Nigeria for formal and informal financial institutions. Lastly, how financial inclusion moderates the effect of remittance on savings in Nigeria remains unknown. Ohiomoje and Abiodun (2019) only examined the isolated effect of different types of remittance inflow on household investment in Nigeria. Given the essential role that financial inclusion plays in remittance-development disclosure, does an individual being financially included moderate the relationship between remittance received and savings? Does having either an account on mobile or with a financial institution (FI) yield the same effect on savings? How does the effect vary for individuals with both mobile and FI accounts? These are the principal questions we seek to answer. This study contributes to the empirical literature in three ways. First, we examine the simultaneous effect of having a mobile and FI account on savings in Nigeria. Second, we examine both the direction and extent to which remittance inflows affect savings behaviour in the context of Nigeria. Third, we examine the moderating role of financial inclusion in the relationship between remittance inflow and individuals 'saving behaviour.
Our findings indicate that individuals who possess a bank account, whether on their mobile or with a financial institution, have a higher propensity to save when compared to those without any account. Moreover, the likelihood of saving doubles for individuals who have both mobile and financial institution accounts. Additionally, our research demonstrates that individuals who receive remittances are more inclined to save than those who do not receive any remittances. Furthermore, we have observed that the combination of having a bank account and receiving remittances increases the likelihood of individuals saving. The conclusion is that being financially included facilitates the receipt of remittance which improves savings. Consequently, it is recommended that government policies concentrate on harnessing remittance inflows by improving financial inclusion to facilitate savings and encourage investment in Nigeria.
The article is organized as follows: Section II reviews the relevant literature on the subject; Section III presents the methods and data source; Section IV presents the results and discussion; and Section VI deals with the conclusion and policy implications.

Remittance, saving, and the Nigerian economy
Saving is considered an essential factor for long-term economic growth according to neoclassical theory (Solow, 1956) and its link with remittances has been widely discussed in the literature. Thus, studies have highlighted their impact on spending patterns, including their effects on household savings (Opiniano, 2021;Salahuddin et al., 2022). Following Modiglani and Brumberg's (1954) lifecycle theory, consumption and savings are linked to the determinants of households' total income. Thus, remittances, like any other income, such as wages, can influence both household consumption and savings (Nguyen & Huang, 2018). However, following the permanent income hypothesis, Clément (2011) argues that remittances can be viewed as either a permanent type of income or transitory income. In the first case, they are seen as stable income over time, and households, therefore, tend to spend on consumption rather than saving or investing (Zhu et al., 2014). On the other hand, if they are perceived as transitory income, they are mainly used for saving or investment because of the zero propensity to consume them at that time. Conducting this analysis based on the path model in rural Bangladesh and structural equation modelling (SEM), Mohammed et al. (2016) indicate that remittance-recipient households have higher savings than non-recipient households.
Following the structuralist view of neoliberal migration based on dependency theory (Taylor, 1999, De Haas, 2006, work emphasizes the positive impact of decisions to migrate motivated by household survival through the increase in household income as a result of these transfers. Xuan et al. (2022), using propensity score matching (PSM) as proposed by Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983), revealed that remittances have a positive impact on household savings, increasing both the rate and amount of savings. Inspired by the literature on the new economics of labour migration (Katz and Stark 1986), Zhu et al. (2009), motivated by the endogeneity problem, show that, in rural China, the marginal propensity to save from remittances is lower than the propensity to save from other income sources. Following the same dynamics, while incorporating measurement error fixed effects, Zhu et al. (2014) reached similar conclusions.
Many studies have investigated how remittance inflow influences the economy of Nigeria. Iheke (2012) found a positive effect of remittance on output in Nigeria. The study emphasized that this effect works through increases in investment. Olaniyan (2019) also showed that remittance alone reduces economic growth but this effect turns positive when there is financial sector development. The study concluded that the financial sector in Nigeria must be well-developed to enhance the benefits of remittance to the country's growth. Nwokoye et al. (2020) also revealed the positive effects of remittance inflow on labour force participation in Nigeria. The gist of their results indicates that the receipt of remittances allows Nigerians to open new lines of businesses while enhancing existing ones which improves labour force participation. That is, remittances have positive effects on the intensive and extensive margins of labour force participation in Nigeria. Ohiomoje and Abiodun (2019), drawing on investment theory, highlight the role of different types of remittances in Nigeria. Starting with OLS followed by a probit in the first stage, they solve for the endogeneity of remittances using Heckman (1979) in the second stage. They show that regardless of the type of remittance, it has a very large impact on household investment in rural areas compared with urban areas.
Most recently, Apanisile (2021) analyzed the nexus of remittances, financial sector development, and monetary policy in Nigeria. Their findings show that remittances affect the effectiveness of monetary policy through the credit, interest rate, exchange rate, and expectation channels. The research concluded that remittance inflow makes monetary policy ineffective as the majority of it occurs outside the formal financial system. Developing the financial system will bring these funds into the formal financial system and ensure the effectiveness of monetary policy in Nigeria. Other studies also focused on the impact of remittance on economic growth, exchange rate, financial development, financial inclusion, poverty, and rural livelihoods in Nigeria (Adejumo & Ikhide, 2019;Alleluyanatha & Treasure, 2021;Bang et al., 2022;Olayungbo et al., 2020). Quartey et al. (2018), employing treatment effect estimators, point out that households that receive international remittances appear to have a slightly higher probability of saving than those that receive only domestic transfers. Grigorian and Melkonyan (2011) use a three-stage structural equation model to indicate that households that receive remittances work less and spend less on their children's education. Although they save more, they do not take advantage of it to borrow from the banking system for entrepreneurial purposes. Li et al. (2014) and Meldina et al. (2020), based on a set of dependent dummy variables, show a negative impact of remittances on inclusion with respect to credit card ownership and borrowing, but a positive effect on savings. Lyons et al., (2022) used Global Findex data to build on the geographical marketing approach of Berndt and Boeckler (2009) and demonstrated a positive relationship between fintech development and financial inclusion in Ghana. Frost (2020) collected macro data from several countries and showed that market failures related to the unmet demand for financial services and demographics were key factors affecting fintech adoption in these countries. Guermond (2022) explores the link between the digitization of remittances and the developmental impact of digital financial inclusion. Qualitative analysis in Ghana reveals that digital financial inclusion can increase financial institutions' ability to limit social and altruistic reproductive strategies of remittances from migrants to recipients. Kvangraven (2020) and Jain and Gabor (2020) highlight the digitization of remittances as a gateway to inclusion. Therefore, attempts have been made to modify the architecture and financial instruments related to remittances through digitization and the use of fintech based on the use of mobile money (MOMO) and digital platforms (Bernards, 2019;Gabor & Brooks, 2017). Therefore, concerns remain about the protection of digital data and the exclusion of certain financial services and products in the direction of the countries of the South, which has neglected the materialization of digital money still neglected (Bateman et al., 2019;Natile, 2020).

Fintech, financial inclusion, and remittances
In this sense, remittances may first increase households' demand for deposit accounts to store the excess liquidity of received funds (Ambrosius & Cuecuecha, 2016;Misati & Kamau, 2018). Second, facilitate households' subscription to existing formal banking financial products (Nyamongo et al., 2012), and finally channel savings from remittances to financial institutions to finance the private sector in return (Orozco & Fedewa, 2006). Within this framework, Kwesi et al. (2020) also demonstrate a positive relationship based on the theory of information asymmetry (Akerlof, 1970) and multiple equation models and deduce that a regular flow of remittances facilitates the creation of a credit history that establishes the creditworthiness of the recipients and considers these funds as collateral for the allocation of credit, thus reducing the problem of information asymmetry.
Several studies have analyzed the effects of financial inclusion on different economic indicators in Nigeria. Others also discussed how changes in economic variables influence financial inclusion. For instance, Adetunji and David-West (2019) made use of microdata to investigate the key determinants of financial inclusion. While income explains the intensiveness of savings, financial literacy drives the patterns of savings in both formal and informal institutions. It follows that measures to enhance income and financial literacy will improve financial inclusion and savings in Nigeria. Wayne et al. (2020) also investigated how banks in Nigeria can rally on technologies to improve financial inclusion in Nigeria. Similarly, Ene et al. (2019) examined the role of electronic banking in driving the financial inclusion agenda in Nigeria. The findings show that the point of sale (POS) and the automated teller machines (ATM) devices respectively had a significant positive and negative effect on financial inclusion. Therefore, barriers to the use of ATMs must be resolved to improve its benefits to Nigerians. Adegbite and Machethe (2020) turned the focus on the gender aspect of financial inclusion in the agricultural sector of Nigeria. The identified gender gap in financial inclusion drives food insecurity, increase the cost of agricultural productivity, and perpetuates poverty in Nigeria. Efforts to bridge this gap will be an effective avenue to improve sustainable development by solving these issues.
Moreover, Ajefu and Ogebe's (2019) analysis based on instrumental variable estimation highlights that those receiving remittances increase the probability of using formal financial services (savings, credit) and adopting mobile or online banking in Nigeria. Anthony-Orji et al. (2019) also looked at how financial inclusion is impacted by the quality of institutions and financial stability in Nigeria. While Fowowe (2020) examined the role of financial inclusion on agricultural productivity, Awaworyi Churchill et al. (2020) provided micro-level information on how financial inclusion influences the poverty levels of Nigerians. Relying on Nigerian household data, Awaworyi Churchill et al. (2020) showed that pragmatic efforts to enhance financial inclusion will lead to a reduction in poverty levels among households in Nigeria. Additionally, some authors studied the influence of financial inclusion on income convergence, technological development, financing of medium and small-scale businesses, and economic growth in Nigeria (Akhor & Aruna, 2022;Ibrahim & Aliero, 2020;Babajide et al., 2020;Kamalu et al., 2019).
The review of the literature showed the importance of financial inclusion and remittance to the sustainable development of Nigeria. While considerable attention has been paid to the role of financial inclusion, none of the studies examined the simultaneous effect of having a mobile and FI account. We add to the literature by investigating how having at least an account either on mobile, with a formal or informal institution influences savings in Nigeria. The variation in the effect for individuals with both mobile and FI accounts is also examined. Other studies also studied the isolated effect of remittance on different economic indicators in Nigeria. Apanisile (2021) is the only study that investigated the interplay of remittance and financial inclusion but the focus was on the effectiveness of monetary policy in Nigeria. As another novelty of our study, we consider how financial inclusion moderates the effect of remittance on savings in Nigeria.

Empirical strategy
The logistic regression model was conducted on the empirical model because of the dichotomous nature of the dependent variable. As Allison (1999) shows, a dichotomous dependent variable violates the homoscedasticity and normality requirements of the linear regression model. As a result, neither the coefficient estimates nor the standard error estimations accurately represent genuine standard errors. Additionally, using the ordinary least squares method to estimate a linear probability model will result in predicted values outside the probability range of probable values (0,1). These factors led to the use of the logistic regression model when the dependent variable was binary. This model converts probability to odds before taking the logarithm of odds. By doing this, the lower and upper bounds of the probability are eliminated (Greene, 2008). The logistic regression model is as follows: β 0 and β 1 are the regression parameters, X i is the main independent variable, Z i represents the control variables, and P i denotes the proportion of individuals saved in the past year. For the linear model, the marginal effect of the variables estimated at certain values of the explanatory variables is of interest.
First, the remittance variable was excluded from the model to estimate the effect of other independent variables on saving behaviour in Nigeria. The estimated model is as follows.
where Y it is the binary variable capturing savings or otherwise of individual i in time t. X it is a vector of the independent variables explored to achieve the objectives of the study. These include financial accounts with both mobile and financial institutions, gender (female), age of respondents, education level of respondents categorized into secondary and tertiary, and wages received by respondents. ε it is the error term.
Further, to estimate the effect of remittance on savings in Nigeria, the model specified below includes the remittance variable alongside the other aforementioned variables.
where remittance it denotes the domestic remittance received in the past 12 months by respondents.
Finally, to analyze the moderating role of financial inclusion in the nexus of remittance and saving in Nigeria, the model specified below includes the interaction of variables for bank accounts and remittance plus the other aforementioned variables.
where β 1 captures the combined effect of the domestic remittance received in the past 12 months by the respondents and the extent of their financial inclusion.

Data
Using data from the World Bank from a national survey conducted in Nigeria, this study examines the effect of remittances on saving behaviour in Nigeria. Survey data are available for different waves, but this study explored the three most recent waves: 2014, 2017, and 2021. The survey data contain information on financial indicators, such as savings and financial accounts for both traditional and mobile money accounts. The survey data has in total for the three waves of 3000 respondents; with 1,000 respondents for each wave. To achieve the stated objectives, the dependent variable is the savings behaviour of individuals in the survey data. The question asked individuals if they had saved in the past year, and the response was dichotomous in nature: yes or no. It must be emphasized that this study considered only the extensive margin of savings. That is, the propensity to save more rather than the intensive margin which relates to the amount of savings. Considering the intensive margins would be interesting but we were limited by the data.
In addition, the independent variables employed in this study include remittances received by individuals. The question for the variable asked respondents if they had received domestic remittances in the past 12 months. Other independent variables include mobile financial accounts, individuals with both mobile and financial accounts, gender (female), age of respondents, education level of respondents categorized into secondary and tertiary, and wages received by respondents. Our empirical analysis and scope were limited by the data available in the survey. For instance, indicators of welfare, such as income, expenditure, and assets, were not captured in the dataset.

Descriptive statistics
We begin the empirical analysis by testing the correlation among the study variables to ascertain the relationships between them, especially between savings and bank accounts, as well as savings and remittances. Table 1 shows savings are significantly and positively correlated with a bank account, educational level, and whether they have received remittances or wages within the past year. However, the correlation between savings and gender is negative, which suggests that being male or female influences saving behaviour in Nigeria. In addition, the correlation between each pair of explanatory variables was less than 50%, which suggests no multicollinearity in the study. The summary statistics also show the average age of respondents is 32 years. This lends credence to the data used for the study because it represents the working age of Nigerians who are likely to save.

Distribution of respondents based on their saving behaviour
This section sheds light on the saving behaviour of individuals in Nigeria. It reveals the proportion of respondents saved in the past year and allows insight into their saving behaviour. The distribution is presented in Table 2. Table 2 shows that 67.97% of respondents have saved in the past year. This implies the majority of Nigerians, in one form or another put money away for future use. Although not every respondent had saved in the past year, the culture of saving in Nigeria can be described as appropriate for analysing how remittances influence their behaviour towards saving.

Nexus of remittances and saving behaviour in Nigeria
Generally, individuals save when their income exceeds their expenditures. Excess income allotted to saving is enhanced when people have extra sources of income, such as remittances. The receipt  of remittance cushions individuals and may encourage them to save money. The relationship between remittances and savings is shown in Table 3. Table 3 shows that the majority of respondents have not received remittances in the past year. But for those who have received remittances, more than 76% have saved in the past year. Even for individuals who have not received any remittances in the past year, the saving behaviour is still positive. About 64% of respondents save although they have not received any remittance in the past year. This shows that alternative sources of income can improve the saving behaviour of individuals in Nigeria. The chi2 test showed the null hypothesis of no association between savings and remittance is rejected at the 1% significance level. This means conclusions based on their association are completely valid.

How remittance influences the saving behaviour of Nigerians
The main aim of this study is to determine the influence of remittances on Nigerians' saving behaviour. Whether savings are formal or informal, having an account, and accessing it either through a financial institution or via a mobile phone is a necessary condition. We verify whether having an account makes any difference as far as the saving behaviour of Nigerians is concerned.
The results from Model 1 in Table 4 indicate that having at least one account makes individuals more likely to save relative to those with no bank account. That is, individuals with a bank account either on their mobile or with a financial institution (FI) are more likely to save compared to those with neither of the bank accounts by a factor of 3. The factor doubles for individuals with both mobile and FI bank accounts. While the findings confirm studies like those of Angela et al. (2020), we added to the knowledge by showing that having both mobile and FI accounts make it more probable for individuals to save. In addition, the results from Model 1 show that individuals who have received remittances in the past year are more likely to save than those who have not received any remittances. The odds of saving increase by a factor of 1.68 if the individual has received remittance in the past year. This confirms the a priori expectation that remittances represent an extra source of income for the individual, and given that consumption is relatively constant, additional income will be saved (Solow, 1956). The positive effect of remittance on savings confirms those of Meldina et al. (2020) and Ajefu and Ogebe (2019), who conducted similar studies in Nigeria and elsewhere.  The results further show that individuals who have received wages in the past year have a higher likelihood of saving than those without any wage in the past year. Specifically, such individuals are more likely to save than those without wages, by a factor of 1.49. This confirms the consumption and saving theory that individuals consume or save out of their wages, so it suffices that those on the payroll are more likely to put some away for future use (Romer, 2012).
The results from Model 2 capture the mediating role of financial inclusion, where the variables for bank accounts and remittances were interacted. This shows that receiving remittances increases the likelihood of saving by a factor of 3.332 1 for individuals with at least one type of bank account relative to individuals without any bank account. This likelihood increases by a factor of 4.976 if individuals have both types of accounts compared with those without any account. This suggests that financial inclusion combines with remittances to enhance Nigerians' savings behaviour. Specifically, Nigerians are more likely to save if they are financially included and receive extra income through remittances. These findings confirm those of Kvangraven (2020) and Jain and Gabor 2020, which emphasize the essential nexus of remittances and financial inclusion in fostering savings. Notes 2: Standard errors are in parentheses; ***, **, and * represent 1%, 5%, and 10% significance levels, respectively. -Gyebi et al., Cogent Social Sciences (2023) It is obvious the inflow of remittances is essential to the economy of Nigeria. This explains the high premium they place on migration. Information from the Nigerian Immigration Service indicates that 1,899,683 people were issued passports in 2022 alone, the most in seven years. However, the misconception and lack of trust in the financial system among many Nigerians explain the high level of financial exclusion (Wayne et al., 2020). The recent developments where depositors cannot withdraw their deposits due to limited liquidity further deepen the lack of trust in the financial system in Nigeria. This discourages Nigerians from saving regardless of the amount of remittance inflow. This may have negative effects on the level of investment in the country. Also, internet connectivity and electricity infrastructure are still poor in Nigeria (Ene et al., 2019). This makes financial inclusion and intermediation challenging as financial activities, especially mobile and online banking depend on such infrastructure. Unless efforts are made to improve the financial system to repose trust, these findings will not be realized as majority of the remittance received will remain outside the financial system without having the needed impact on the economy.

Conclusion
In recent years, remittances received from migrant workers residing abroad have become the secondlargest source of external finance for developing countries, of which Nigeria is no exception. In addition to their increasing size, the stability of these flows despite financial crises and economic downturns makes them a reliable source of funding for Nigerians. While researchers and policymakers increasingly recognize the development potential of remittance flows, the effect of remittances on saving behaviour remains largely unexplored in Nigeria. Given the extensive literature on the growthenhancing and poverty-reducing effects of financial inclusion, a better understanding of remittances' impact on saving is important. Besides, the role of financial inclusion in the remittance-saving nexus remains unknown. This study attempts to fill these gaps in the literature.
Using data from the World Bank on a national survey for Nigeria, it can be concluded that receiving remittance improve the propensity of individuals to save. We further conclude that financial inclusion indicated as having a bank account either on mobile or with a financial institution (FI) positively affect the likelihood of individuals to save. The likelihood is doubled if an individual has both mobile and FI accounts. Lastly, we conclude that Nigerians are more likely to save if they are financially included and have received extra income through remittances at the same time. Overall, by finding that remittances can foster bank deposits and savings, this study highlights another channel through which remittances can positively influence savings to improve investment in Nigeria.

Policy implications
This study has some implications for policymakers to consider to enhance the inflow of remittance and improve financial inclusion not only in Nigeria but in every developing country.
First of all, the study revealed that having mobile and financial institution accounts doubles the propensity for Nigerians to save. However, recent developments in Nigeria such as the currency redesign reduced the little trust in the financial system. Nigerians could not withdraw their deposits from financial institutions which increased their hardships. Going forward, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other relevant authorities must remove any limitations to enhance the trust and security of the financial system to improve financial inclusion and its attendant benefits to the Nigerian economy.
Also, the study adds to the growing literature that points to the fact that remittance can be an effective alternative to fill the financial gap for developing countries like Nigeria. The benefits are enhanced in the presence of a well-developed financial system. However, there is no known formal plan or policy that facilitates the migration of Nigerians to foreign countries. Based on the premise that people are migrating, a formidable policy to facilitate safe and successful migration will go a long way to improve remittance inflow into the country.
Moreover, the results indicate that individuals with higher educational levels have a higher propensity to save. This means education is important as it enhances and sharpens the ability of individuals to engage in income-generating activities making them more likely to save. The study recommends that the Nigerian government improve the educational infrastructure at all levels to improve education and promote savings.
Lastly, the findings showed that respondents who have received wages in the last year had a higher propensity to save. Generally, it is individuals that earn income that would want to put some away for precautionary or speculatory purposes which further improves investments. The government of Nigeria, through its employment agencies, must work on reducing the high level of unemployment. Creating jobs for Nigerians will encourage them to save which is important for investment and the country's growth.

Limitations of the study
The study is limited in the following ways.
The first limitation is the dataset used for the study. The data does not have quantitative values on the volume of remittances received by individuals as well as their savings in Nigeria. Respondents only responded to the questions of either receiving or not receiving remittances as well as either saving or not saving. This limited our analysis to only the extensive margin of savings. We encourage future studies to use datasets that allow researchers to consider the effect of remittance on both intensive and extensive margins of savings.
Another limitation is the number of respondents captured in the survey. The FINTEC data have information on only 1000 Nigerians in each wave of the survey. Considering the large population size of Nigeria, 1000 respondents is small. Combining the three recent wavess of the survey only gave 3,000 respondents which is still small. We encourage future surveys to include as many Nigerians as much as possible to allow for more comprehensive studies.