PayPal Now Works in Kenya!


Well, yesterday was a very significant day for me. I am not sure exactly when it happened, but receiving money in Kenya through PayPal is now possible! Kenya is officially on of the PayPal supported countries.

Yesterday there was a heated discussion on the Skunkworks Kenya mailing list on whether one can use PayPal in Kenya. During this discussion, one of the skunks happened to visit the PayPal site and lo and behold Kenya was on the list of supported sites. It was not long before the skunks quickly tested and confirmed that receiving money in Kenya via PayPal is now actually possible!

Why is this important? Almost everybody knows about PayPal and they are the most popular company to process payments on the Internet. Many people will trust paying through PayPal because that’s what they normally use. In fact, in countries like the USA, if you do not offer an option for buyers on your e-commerce site to pay via PayPal, buyers will think twice before buying from you. Just using PayPal inspires trust amongst your potential customers.

Now that PayPal supports Kenya, I expect that e-commerce in Kenya shall grow even faster.

Unfortunately, you can receive money into your PayPal account in Kenya but you cannot yet withdraw it to a local bank account – you have to withdraw it to a US bank account. This is definitely going to be a hindrance for many, but there are rumours that PayPal is working with Equity and we shall soon be able to withdraw to an equity bank account in Kenya. Is this great, or what??

So, this is all great but how do you actually use PayPal to do e-commerce? Well, PayPal offers two main ways of getting paid:

  1. Anyone can send money to the email address that you used to sign up for PayPal and you will receive it int your account.
  2. You can integrate PayPal into your own website to power payment processing for your online shop. DukaPress is probably the easiest way to do this as it supports PayPal straight out of the box.

Update: PayMPESA Helps Withdraw Your PayPal Funds to MPESA

Update: You can also now withdraw from PayPal through Babawatoto or LibertyReserve.

Additional Resources

Comments

  1. Eli Kwesu says:

    I recently received cash in Kenya via Mukuru.com I know you can send funds directly into the MPESA system. I think you can pay Mukuru with PayPal too – which means it’s a quick link between PayPal and MPESA (cash-out) in Kenya. Hope this helps.

    • For some reason the site doesn’t open

    • Hi Eli kwesu I have tried PayPal to western union http://paycashexchange.info and its working well.

      • paycashexchange.info posted here by Mr. Patrick Kamau is a scam.. It’s a Kenyan “Cash forwarding” scam.. the lying bastards have no intention of ever doing what they claim.. any reference to these thieves was put on the Internet by Patrick Kamau himself.. All in June and July all by the same scumbag bastard thief.. human garbage is what this piece of trash is.. and if there was any way I could get my hands on him, I’d break his scrawny neck and feed him to the dogs.. Hope you read this you scumbag garbage.. hope even more that you get arrested and I can get close enough to get my hands on you..

        • Truly this Patrick Kamau Conned me, I met him in person, about receiving money from paypal, who ever will have him in police station first lemi know. He is a conman and his phone is always off. May be he has changed his number. Thou he teached me some tricks which I modified, and I’ve used paypal to receive cash in Kenya as late as last week (1st sep 2011), Please not this is not 100% legal but anyway you get your cash, far cheaper and faster than sending to some1 in US then he send it to kenya. I’m worried this wont last for long, But I trust God when one door closes another one opens.

  2. Best thing since sliced bread

  3. Now that is what I call the beginning of ecommerce in Kenya. I’m sure glad I follow your blogs as this would have passed me by.

  4. James Kimani says:

    I find the discussion interesting and the excitement a little misplaced. Receiving money through PayPal in Kenya has been the norm for quite some time now. The problem has been how to withdraw the money from your paypal account (locally). Am not being sarcastic but i think one of our problems is that we approach most online services in the wrong way. We log in, create an account and log out, we dont read the specifics, we dont take time to find out all that we need to know, hence the misconception we have all been having about paypal in kenya.

    • Dear James, I respect your opinions.

      However, I have been “working online” a LONG time. To say that “receiving money through PayPal in Kenya has been the norm” is quite inaccurate at best. Perhaps by “quite some time” you mean the last week or so? Before then it was impossible!

      See, my main problem with working with PayPal has ALWAYS been the ability to merely receive money in an account registered and verified using a Kenyan Bank account and Address. If it was only withdrawing locally it would not have been a problem to me personally because I can withdraw elsewhere. Therefore, I am convinced that you have not done enough research yourself on what you say. Before very recently, it was impossible to have merely a PayPal balance if your PayPal account was registered in Kenya and verified using a Kenyan bank account and Kenyan address. my life revolves around working online so I know what I am saying. And I am not the only one who is saying this. If you would just do some research you would know that until early this year, receiving via PayPal was impossible not only in Kenya, but the whole of Africa.

      Our “main problem” as you put it is quite true. Our other problem is not doing enough research before making assertions.

      Here are some links you can look at if you’re inclined to do so:
      http://www.davidajao.com/blog/2007/09/29/why-paypal-features-in-africa-are-limited/
      http://imod.co.za/2008/02/13/i-called-paypalcom-today-from-south-africa-and-asked-wasssup/
      http://www.siku-moja.blogspot.com/2009/06/alertpay-africas-e-commerce-alternative.html

      • I agree with you kelvin, the guy above is not so familiar with online stuff(James I dont mean to make you feel wierd). it’s such great news though that only Kenya, i repeat Kenya and South Africa are the only countries in Africa that support receiving cash in the whole of africa and that tells alot of potential that Kenya has. It’s now upon us young developers to offer more solutions to the world like dukapress and ushahidi among others.

        • just to add on Kevin’s comment on James post. I have been working with GAF and recently tried receiving money from clickbank but the Paypal issue was the problem. I could not receive revenues from clients in GAF. So James with due respect. Stop the flimsy arguments and save it for the gurus.

  5. In Kenya, e-commerce is being embraced; however, PayPal has been an obstacle for Kenyan online entrepreneurs. The fact being PayPal is the most trusted means of conducting transactions online, it is a nightmare for Kenyan online entrepreneurs since they’re are unable to withdraw cash payments through PayPal from their bank accounts. I am pleased to hear that Equity bank is working with PayPal to make its operations effective.

  6. This is good news! At least now I can transfer my money from Scriptlance and use that money to buy stuff on the net. Waiting for withdrawal facilities though.

  7. Hi guys its so amazing to hear that paypal has finally hit our country.It has been a long process to get my epayments through other means of money tranfers.Its just wow to me.How about you who has online job?

  8. I don’t see what the excitement is. PayPal will only “work” in Kenya when they allow withdrawals from a Kenyan bank account. Until then, it doesn’t deserve a mention

    • From personal experience, some shoppers from the “West” will not buy from your shop, or will be inclined not to do so if you do not have a pay by PayPal option. Good as they are, akina AlertPay na Moneybookers don’t inspire confidence from most people.

      I agree with you on one hand, but on the other hand, people like me (there must be others) now have access to a greatly wider ‘market’. Receiving payments is a problem but is it not better to have money sitting in your PayPal account rather than in a potential customer’s pocket?

      • PromulgatedKabisa says:

        For those smart enough its possible to have a virtual US bank account which functions like a normal bank account, and you can use this to withdraw payments from Paypal. There are some organizations that provide this account. I use Payoneer and they gave me an account with the First Bank of Delaware, and I didnt even have to leave my office in the CBD. You can google if there are other companies that do this.

        • These are good news promulgatedkabisa. I would like to get this virtual US bank account. From the Payoneer website, is it the cards being referred to?

          • PromulgatedKabisa says:

            Issuing prepaid debit cards is the main activity for Payoneer, and these cards are used to withdraw money from freelancing/affiliate websites such as scriptlance and vworker.com. One of the conditions for getting a card is that you must join any of these sites and register a profile. You cant apply for a card directly from Payoneer, you must go through any of these websites. Once you get the card, you might request for the account using this mail (feedback@payoneer.com). Upon satisfying a few other additional conditions, you may be provided with an account.

            • Thanks alot for the info.I would be happy if you can give me your address. Mine is jchomba10@gmail.com

              • i mentioned earlier that payoneer is indeed the easiest way to receive and transact online via theri master cards which is free.I have been using payoneer master card without an issue in the last 6 months>As we wait to confirm that paypal is indeed working here in kenya you choose the payoneer option

                • PromulgatedKabisa says:

                  The only confirmation one needs is to go to http://www.paypal.com/worldwide and see that Kenya is in the list of send/receive countries. The problem with payoneer is that it works only for freelancers. PayPal is very important if you need a merchant account and you sell stuff online. For anyone who lives in Kenya and has a Payoneer card, you can use that card to withdraw money from your PayPal account (Via a US virtual bank account) since local withdrawals are still unsupported.

                  • My friend, would you be able to write something up on Payoneer for publication on this website? I believe more in-depth knowledge of what Payoneer offers would be of benefit to other readers of this site.

                    • PromulgatedKabisa says:

                      Yeah I would love to do a write up but maybe on the weekend. But let me summarize it here. Kenyans can now receive money in their PayPal accounts. One needs to withdraw that money for it to be useful. Now, PayPal doesn’t have any arrangement with a local bank which can be used to process withdrawals. We don’t even have an option of applying for Mastercard debit cards from paypal which are used to withdraw money from any ATM with a Mastercard logo. Now, that leaves Kenya with 2 options. You open a US bank acount, very difficult these days after the passing of the Patriot Act. You need to go to US physically to open a bank account as most if not all banks there have stringent KYC (know your customer) rules. The second option is to get a “Virtual” US bank account. For the Virtual account, you don’t need to go to the US. You first need to have a Payoneer card. To get a Payoneer card, you must have been registered as a freelancer in any of the following freelancing websites; vWorker.com, freelancer.com, guru.com, oDesk.com, scriptlance.com etc (view all options at http://www.payoneer.com). Once you have this card, you need to have at least three loads in your card, that is, at least your card must have been used to receive money from a client three times. To speed things up, you might get a friend to post projects for you on these sites, and then pay you through the site–and refund the money to your friend, including transaction charges of course, lol. Afterwards, you can apply to have a US virtual bank account. Its actually a real bank account with an account number and ABA (routing) number. You may then add this account to your PayPal account. Once you receive money through PayPal, you can withdraw it to the Virtual bank account. Once the money is deposited in that account, it is automatically redirected to your card and you can withdraw it from any ATM with a MasterCard Logo (Barclays, Pesapoint, KCB, CFC Stanbic) or use it in any POS shop (Uchumi, Nakumatt)

              • PromulgatedKabisa says:

                you can send me an email jamesnjenga4jc@yahoo.com

            • am a member of such sites but the problem is that the funds i have are in pp and i canot transfer except they say i should have us account. how will i transfer to these other freelance for me to use payoneer?

              • promulgatedKabisa says:

                Get a US bank account then, or better still, get a virtual US bank account from Payoneer by following the procedure I have outlined in one of the comments I have made here. I don’t see the need to repeat myself as the comment is long. Look for it.

  9. This is excellent news!! Now how fast can Equity get it’s act together and enable us to withdraw money or will another Kenyan bank step up 🙂

    • i used equity to verify my account.
      my hitch with pp is that they are very ready to withdraw money from you card but are not willing to to pay any back to it. i wonder even why they are verifying it with money

  10. I would not say ecommerce is going to take off as you cannot withdraw your paypal funds to a local bank account.

  11. If only Clickbank.com could follow suit, that would be awesome!

  12. am loving whatever my eyes is seeing. Paypal Kenya. Definately other measures will follow like full integration with our local banks. For now lets appreciate a mile..

    • It is an opportune time for some developer to make a Kenyan solution for this, maybe PayPal-to-MPESA 😀

      • PromulgatedKabisa says:

        well, if the rumours about PayPal working with Equity turn out to be true, that will actually be a reality (by default). If you have MKesho account with Equity, you could then withdraw money from PayPal to your Mkesho account, and afterwards withdraw the same using Mpesa. Likewise you could make a deposit on the MKesho account using Mpesa, and then fund your PayPal account from the bank account using the same funds. Actually, I don’t think anyone needs to develop anything, the mechanisms are already there!!!

  13. Kelvin I appreciate what we discuss here. Now I agree with promulgated kabisa, and i really cannot wait for PayPal to fully function in Kenya. Is there nothing we can do like start petitions or something where interested parties can do a signup or something and we approach PayPal? Second is we prior were discussing about payments in Kenya and since then I have been using moneybookers.com which directly sends me money to my National Bank Account. They charge you about $3.00 for this and the bank in turn charges you around Ksh 700. So in total about Ksh 1,000. To receive your money. Now this is just what I use when I receive money from GAF or Odesk. But hey we are looking forward to PayPal.

  14. Hi, Kelvin I am actually excited to know that paypal is finally here. i did visit equity and they actually gave me a swift code which I think talks more than the rumours!

  15. I had to join in on this converstion. First off, Kelvin, thanks for initiating this conversation. As someone living in the US having a deep history with the internet and online payments, even after having actually worked for PayPal, I can say a few things. Kevin, a little wrong about South Africa only recently being able to receive payments. South Africa has been able to receive payments into PayPal accounts since about 2004-2005. I’m not sure if at the moment they are able to withdraw funds to a local bank account there.

    As for being able to receive funds in a PayPal account registered in Kenya. That is a major thing. I agree. Someone mentioned that Equity should jump onto this opportunity. I’m not trying to sound like a negative person but I believe we will probably be senior citizens before such an agreement will take place given what is in the public domain about the owners of Equity bank and the allegations linking them to corruption. It would most likely be in PayPal’s best interests to probably allow an American bank like Citibank to open up withdrawals to a bank account in Kenya. There are so many hurdles when it comes to legislation linking money internationally that it will take a long time before any confidence will be gained by a local Kenyan bank to an American business entity.

    Those are just my thoughts, they are not etched in stone as we are constantly evolving in our dynamic world. Please let me know what your thoughts on this topic are.

    • Thanks for the comments Michael. It is quite amazing that you actually worked for PayPal. Are you still there? Do you honestly think we will be able to withdraw locally soon?

      • Hi Kelvin,

        I am not there anymore but I still have a number of people I know who work there. I shouldn’t think it would be too much to possibly setup a meeting with one of the people who matters and try to find out what the challenges are towards withdrawing funds to a bank account in Kenya. It would be nice to get some of your input as being on the ground regarding how to go about the process.

        I just did some independent research after I posted my previous comment and found out that South Africa was opened to the ability to withdraw funds from a PayPal account to a bank earlier this year.

        Tell you what, I believe you have my email address by being one of the Admin’s of this site. Shoot me an email and I’m sure we can communicate further to see if we can influence something behind the scenes.

    • muukiomuingi says:

      Oh, you talk a lot of non-sense. I was in South Africa last year and they were still lamenting how PayPal has shunned them, despite the fact that one of PayPal founders was South African (or should I say a former SA citizen). Secondly, if you worked at PP you would know that PP uses FNB bank to enable local withdrawals. And finally, your jibe against Equity Bank is uncalled for. Would the bank be winning so many international awards if it had questionable business practices. I think you are just a masquerader and I don’t believe you ever worked at PP. You seem so ill informed about them. Nothing you’ve said so far has legs to stand on.

      • First, off ‘muukiomuingi’, thanks for your comment. I will actually thank you for it.
        1) Because it shows how much of an idiot you are by exposing your narrow frame of mind on the world wide web
        And
        2) Because it just reminded me why I don’t often post to people’s comments online because everyone wants to act like they know everything and get emotional about someone’s point of view that the actual discussion gets taken out of context. I will respond to your comment once only, because the waste of time involved in responding to your jibberish is an embarrassment quite honestly.
        I left PP over 5 years ago, and thinking about it twice I maybe shouldn’t have mentioned it. Going back to SA, I see that FNB just got the endorsement to start allowing bank withdrawals from the beginning of this year – 2010. That’s no secret ‘muukiomuingi’, and everything you have mentioned is public knowledge. There is nothing new you are bringing to the discussion. You can argue all you want but it will never change anything about where someone has worked; not that it should even matter to you.
        Lastly, I don’t care how many international awards Equity has earned. It doesn’t mean smack in a worldwide sense, maybe to you if you happen to be a shareholder or have affiliates linked to the bank, thus it will make sense why you took my comment personally! Its also nice to know one of PayPal’s founders was South African, I didn’t even know that and I worked there, surprised? The fact is it doesn’t matter where the owner is from, who he marries, where he stops on his way home to drink his beer, or even where he leaves his DNA when he visits the bathroom. All that mattered/matters is what is accomplished in the current business environment and what makes pragmatic sense based on the factors on the ground. What I am trying to bring to light is the fact that there has got to be a vested interest for the company before they make a move and partner up with a bank. Have a nice day ‘muukiomuingi’, you need some peace in your life, being angry could lead to health complications! ~ Be careful.

        • muukiomuingi says:

          Goodness me you are an irredeemable idiot. I was not seeking to say anything new, just to point out your blatant misinformation. I ignored large parts of your comment because because most of it is just fluff. I doubt anyone would work for PayPal and not know that one of its founder was South African so save us your lies. Give us credit and tell us intelligent lies, some of us are not that foolish. I know a lie from 10 miles away. Eti you worked in PayPal. Hehe. tell it to the birds.

          • Indeed a South African, Elon Musk, is one of the founders of PayPal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal

            However, is there really any need to resort to name-calling? Can open discussion, and disagreement, (over the Internet, mind you) not happen without personalized attacks? Please, gentlemen calm down, I beg of you.

            • muukiomuingi says:

              He has said a few things which are patently untrue (I can pick out 3) and I was just pointing that out when he called me an idiot. Probably because he knows I’ve caught him out. I really hate people who spread untruths. He should have done enough research before coming with that “I-worked-at-paypal and I’ve got friends there” thingie. who exactly does he want to impress? Jeez, some people never learn.

              • Now what is going on here? What Michael has said about Paypal being cautious is very true. So no need to beat up on him.

                I’ve been with paypal for eons and this is the first time to know that one of the founders is South African. Actually my history is a bit different but that’s not the point. Is it?

                Let’s get rid of this Kenyan mentality that since a guy is from your region, you know him. aii. And wikipedia is not a factual site….If you say it is, then you have a lot of things to learn. Pick the Britanica its factual.

                I for one would love to hear a partnership with a Kenyan bank but I know for a fact that Paypal is not that quick to the draw. Kenyan banking laws will be looked at as well as privacy policies. Don’t tell me that you don’t know of the guys who work in these banks who sell emails and contact addresses?

                So let’s be patient. Let’s be excited of a good step in the right direction. But let’s not kid ourselves that we are home and dry.

                • muukiomuingi says:

                  And your point is? I never said PayPal is carefree company> I just said the dude who posted before me said several things which are simply not true. It’s not true that SA PayPal customers could receive money in 2005 (which is what he said) then he went on to discredit Equity bank but offered no evidence. He thinks American banks like Citibank are the only ones fit to work with PayPal. If that is not self-loathing (something that mainly affect black people who discredit their own and glorify foreighers) then I dunno what that is. I am sick and tired of people who say things, presenting them as facts but cannot be bothered to conduct a simple research.

                  • Hi, Kevin I took some friends advice on freelancer and finally I have a client that has offered me work. well I am scared not to be conned for the client is from Bangladesh and he/she insists that I will receive my money only via paypal and not GAF. I have done some articles for him but I am still holding back a lot! please advice me on this….. thanks

                    • muukiomuingi says:

                      How can you be “scared not to be conned”? Hii kizungu kweli ni ngumu. Anyway, that aside, some people insist on paying through PayPal so as to escape project charges by the website (unethical practice, I think). Some insist on PP because they don’t want to escrow the project amount before the project is completed. Some lazy a$$ providers get tired and abandon the project leaving the buyer without the deliverables (articles) and the money, so its sometimes understandable. A few jerks will pay you through PayPal and then chargeback their money and if you don’t notice the charge back and contest it, they will be refunded their money from your account after 2 months. There are a few compelling instances for PP payment but in some/most cases, anyone who insists on paying through PayPal instead through the website is to be treated with caution

  16. Thanks MuukioMuingi, I have done some research on paypal and they dont have Bangladesh on their list of supported countries does this mean the client is a scam? secondly I am after earning feedback reviews and I surely think this is a derailment…..what are your thoughts on this?
    Pss-this is a blog site and it doesn’t care much on how we present our question at least you understood my concerns!!

    • muukiomuingi says:

      Thats certainly possible. He could have registered his account in India but ask him how he’s got an account from an unsupported country.

      I understand your misgivings about receiving money through PayPal, I was in your position in 2008. One thing is that your clients won’t be able to leave a feedback for you. Online, feedback is very important. I mostly insisted they pay me through GAF, and put in an escrow for the whole amount ndio nisifanye kazi ya bure. But it takes time, and most will probably refuse if you are a new provider. If you gain trust with a customer, you should insist on them paying through GAF, hata kama fees ziko juu (10 percent) sometimes its worth it. If you get mob projects, you may consider being a gold member and pay only 3 percent. Kitambo it used to be that if you were a gold member, yodidn’t have to pay any fees, lakini from the time the Aussies bought that site from the Swedes, wanataka kukula everywhere.

    • Thanks to muukiomuingi , i can say its better using the freelancing site over paypal ,they can ask for a refund and get their money back,actually equity has stopped transacting with paypal you cannot even buy using your debit card about a month ago, thats bu………..s……ttt,
      i visited barclays moi avenue ,can you imagine the guys at the customer care desk dont even know what the hell is PP, F….. THEM. and they claim to be bankers

  17. Can some1 pls tell me what is the best form of receiving money, paypal or Money Bookers? and how I can get the money (WHICH BANKS TO USE)! URGENT!!!

  18. Magdalina says:

    Hi Kevin. I have been keenly following the discussion here as far as paypal is concerned. I must say that it seems pretty useless 4 one to have a paypal account and not be able to withdraw from it locally. I think their have been suggestions that one can have a bank account in countries where paypal is supported. just the other day I ran into this link-http://www.bank-usa-account.com/ which claims that it can help any1 to open up a US account. My main concern is that it might be one of those scam websites. please have a look at it and advice! Thanks

    • Problem is that paypal will find out that you are not in the USofA and freeze your account. Trust me, it has happened to me. I have been using e-pesa fro the last one year and never been dissapointed.. Someone said that their 10% commision is high but its actually almost the same charge by the banksbut unlike the banks, you don’t have to wait for 3days and the money is sent to you via Mpesa so easy access.. check them out.e-pesa.net.

      • Are you talking of a 10% commission on the money one is transferring? If yes, then there’s no way I would patronize their services. If the transfer amount is little, then 10 % is negligible, but not when you have to frequently part with, say $100, $ 200, oh and $500, as commission, for each transfer. A second aspect concerns acceptability of that payment method internationally. Paypal is by far the most widely accepted online payment client internationally. Despite this it also has its fair share of disadvantages, one of which, already highlighted here, is chargeback by unscrupulous clients.

        My “skimming” of their site indicates they have partnered with moneybookers. But at 10% commission (not read this but just taking your word), that’s is far much expensive than waiting for, let say wire transfer or maybe asking a friend in countries where paypal support’s bank-withdraw function to transfer the money for you – offcourse, if the “friend” is not a con artist.

  19. samuel wachira says:

    I wanted the KCB PAYPAL debit card and after going to the bank I was told that they haven’t heard of such a card. is it the general purpose one or is it a special one for paypal? and must I have an introductory letter? someone please help

  20. You can now withdraw paypal cash from Kenyan Banks. The info is in this comment http://likechapaa.com/2010/10/my-last-word-on-paypal-in-kenya-for-now/comment-page-1/#comment-4529

    • I do not believe you can do this just yet. PayPal still directs one to an overseas (US) bank account.

      • Call Co-Operative Telkom 277 6000 Safaricom 0729 277 600 Zain 0736 690 101
        OR
        Barclays Tel: +(254) (20) 3900000 Mobile: +(254) (0) 722 130 120 Mobile: +(254) (0) 732 130 120
        I spoke to them, they said that we can withdraw payments.

        • Promulgatedkabisa says:

          If that was the case, I should have the option of adding a Kenyan bank account on my PP account. Each time I try I am re-directed to a US bank account. If I can’t add a local account, then how can I withdraw to a local bank? I realized most bank staff in Kenya are not very well informed when it comes to PP. You have to know its PP which decides to allow local withdrawals, not individual banks. You should visit this page and see that Kenya in in the category of countries that can only withdraw using a US bank account.

        • I agree with Promulgatedkabisa. Until it is enabled on our PayPal accounts then, indeed, it is not working, ama? But perhaps its just a matter of PayPal updating on their side. Though I wonder what’s taking them so long….

          • i too support promulgated kabisa. initially i though the importance of verifying the card was to be able to get wired money to your account but later it was just to verify it was your account which can only receive money if it was in US else you can never withdraw.

        • Mind that this is what the support staff told me that it is possible. I now need to try it.

          • Promulgatedkabisa says:

            Jeez. You should tell them its impossible and they do not know what they are talking about. The only way to withdraw money from PP is by adding a bank account (in some countries they allow withdrawals by a PayPal MasterCard). Currently you can’t add a Kenyan bank account on PP, only a US bank account. If you have a PayPal account, try adding a Barclays account and tell us the results.

  21. Paypal only allows me to make payments but it wont allow me to withdraw cash from my account. Does it mean that Kenya has not earned Paypal’s trust level?

  22. but i have been using paypal since 2008? am a kenyan, i but things in ebay.. whats new?! the fact remains that you cant withdraw from paypal.

  23. I have been using KCB traveler account to withdraw my money from PayPal. The card was being taken as a general card and I was using it for some time until I got a call from PayPal and my account was banned for one month. Later on I called PayPal and they told me that they have to abide by the Kenyan laws. As you all know PayPal is more secure than all the other payment gateways out there. Thats why they are very keen. Recently most of my colleagues in India were astonished when PayPal placed some very hard restrictions due to a change in the India law. PayPal did so out of cocerns on how the huge amounts of tax it will have to incur, hence it retaliated by placing a hard blow on the common guy.
    Now, the same applies to Kenya and its the duty of the Kenyan government to look into this. Personally, I send my money to a friend in the US and he sends me my money through Western Union. PayPal advised me to do this BTW, when I called their support team. I like to call coz support tickets take like forever.

    Instead of you guys saying so much. Just find a person you know and send them your money and then they can send you the same using WU. At the same time lets tell our fellow Kenyans that they need to open PayPal accounts. Because, the larger the number of PayPal users in Kenya, the lighter will be the taxes.

    People need to stop following up with political crap and start making money online. Its easier, faster and very affordable.

  24. with much ado, i wish to ask a few questions:
    -is it possible to open an account with US bank here in kenya and register as if it is in US, or is it a must you open it only in the US
    – is there another means of transfering money from pp (such as moneybookers) that charge the lowest commission in which you can subsequently wire it to your local account. of course at a lower interest?
    – if non of the above are possible, then i believe the only option is to register as if i am buying a service of my own where i can then wire it to my account. if not so then we have to wait till kenyan banking laws are in consistent with the US banking systems

  25. Kudos! It’s a nice piece. I have added a few points in my latest review below
    http://www.openbook.co.ke/2011/paypal-kenya-review.html
    But you have explained almost all the points we need to know about Paypal Kenya, great work 🙂

  26. Thank you very much. Just found this site. Its very informative. Some one assist me here now that we all know about PayPal. How do I tell between a genuine on line Job from a fake one? Is there a certain way………………?????????

  27. Hi everyone, I always consider likechapaa as my online home. About a year ago I started on the lone journey as a freelancer. My main challenge as a freelance newbie was on withdrawal of PayPal money. Just when I had almost given up, I ran into a post here taking of epay-kenya. I started using them and truth to be told, I have never been disappointed, Their rates by the time we 16%. Sometime this year they reduced their rates to 14% and just when I thought things could not get any better, I came across http://vutawaya.mobi/. There are rumors that from 13th Feb, 2012 they are to reduce their rates to 12% visit http://vutawaya.mobi/ for detailed info. This is just great! Thank you ePay-Kenya!! Thank you likechapaa!!

  28. Guys,
    Paypal doesn’t allow for withdrawals to Kenya, yet. I’m from the US & back to good ol’ Kenya. I have a Paypal account with a Paypal debit MasterCard BusinessCard. I want to upload funds from my US bank account to Paypal, then transfer to the MasterCard. If it’s then possible to withdraw funds through any ATM in Kenya, then I think that would be the way to go. However, this will only work for Kenyans who are in the US system i.e have a Social Security Number, Driver’s License and a US physical address. Be patient as I research on ways to withdraw from this service.

  29. Kenyanbestforum.com says:

    You can also get a payoneer debit card.

  30. jacksonganine says:

    Hi. I have used Harrysons.net 3 times now and they seem to offer one of the best, solutions. They are fairly priced and quite a relief to me. for now i will continue using them as more options come up.

  31. Joseph Njau Karanja says:

    I’d like to deposit money to pay pal to buy software on internet but all in vain
    how can i deposit money to my pay pal account. please assist

  32. Now paypal is officially in Kenya through equity bank. https://epal.equitybankgroup.com/paypal/pages/#paypal

  33. Fred Deya says:

    I have an account with cfc stanbic bank in Kenya. how can i withdraw my money from paypal account to my account. please assist ASAP.

Trackbacks

  1. […] Update: PayPal now works in Kenya! […]

  2. […] is until I got informed today by like chapaa that PayPal is accepting merchants in Kenya and may be working with a fully integrated solution […]

  3. […] Paypal has somewhat become the default payment system for freelance services around the world. For people in Africa (apart from South Africa), this has been a major hindrance since the service is confined to the rest of the world forgetting the continent. However, if you are in Kenya you may find this post worth your while. PayPal now works in Kenya! […]

  4. […] PayPal works in Kenya and is rumored to be working with Equity for full integration early next year. What will happen to […]

  5. Paypal in Africa: Kenya users can now receive money…

    The big P of e-commerce, now offers more service to residents of Kenya. Paypal users in Kenya can now receive money via PayPal, and withdraw same to a US bank account if they have one. Though users in Kenya cannot yet withdraw to a local bank account, …

  6. […] Update: PayPal now works in Kenya! […]

  7. […] out to selected customers on an invite-only basis, and reiterated that I need to fulfill some requirements, like having three loads on my card. So far, I have one load and one refund. Still, I wrote to […]

  8. […] what may be a bizzarre outcome following the rumours that PayPal and Equity have been working together for a more streamlined service, holders of Equity […]

  9. […] PayPal now works in Kenya! You can also now withdraw from PayPal through Babawatoto or […]

Leave a Reply to kaunda7 Cancel reply