There are a number of ways of transferring money from Paypal
to Mpesa. Some are insecure; others are pretty expensive while others have
certain limitations. This article will show you how you can transfer money from
Paypal to your Mpesa account cheaply and with total discretion. Just follow
these steps:
1. Register for a Payoneer Account
You can get a Payoneer debit card free of charge at the Official Payoneer Website. Once you
fill in the details, the card will be sent to you via post. If you use a PO Box
address, use it as the mailing address but also add a physical address. After
receiving the card, activate it by logging into your Payoneer account and
pressing activate card.
In your Payoneer account, apply for the U.S. Payment Service, otherwise known as the Global Payment Service.
This service will offer you a virtual U.S. bank account. The virtual account
enables you to receive money from international companies as if you were a United States
citizen.
You may be asked for digital verification documents when
applying for the global payment system. These will be a scanned copy of both
sides of your identity card and screenshots of your online activities. Taking a
screenshot of your Paypal account with the name and account balance displaying
will solve that issue.
2. Update Your Paypal Street
Address
Most online companies do not accept a PO Box address. While
you can send and receive money on Paypal with a p.o box as your address, some
services will not go through unless you have updated to a street address.
If you are a country person and you don’t have a street
address, you can use your physical address. See examples at How to Withdraw Money from Paypal.
3. Verify Your Paypal Account
If you already have a loaded international debit or credit
card, you can use it to prove your identity to Paypal. If you don’t, the best
option is to apply for one through a local bank that allows online
transactions. A good example is Equity Bank.
After adding the debit card to your account, Paypal will
make 2 deductions to the card. You will then need to enter the details of the
transactions to confirm that you are the owner of the card. If you can’t access
your local bank account online, request for a statement.
4. Open a Skrill Account
Skrill is another online money transfer service, just like
Paypal, where you can open an account free of charge. You do not need to verify
your Skrill account unless you need to transfer huge sums of money through
them. One thing you must be very careful with is using your correct birthday.
You will be asked to enter your birthday instead of a security question when
making transactions.
5. Add the Virtual Account to Paypal
Before adding your virtual bank account details to Paypal,
make sure that:
- Your Paypal address is updated
- You have added a debit card, or another local bank account
If you don’t do the above, your U.S. bank may be rejected.
Moving the Money from Paypal to M-Pesa
If you have carried out all the above steps correctly,
transferring money from Paypal to Mpesa should take no more than 12 hours (and
this is something that I have done numerous times). Just follow this procedure:
- Sign in to Paypal and select withdraw funds, and choose the U.S bank
- Fill in the details and confirm the transaction – you’ll receive an email with the transactions particulars
- After 9 hours or so (may take longer on weekends), check an email from Payoneer. Once you receive the email, the money will already be in your card
- Open your Payoneer account to confirm the balance – a small fee may be deducted (about 1%)
- Log in to Skrill and select Upload Money
- The transaction fees will show instantly after keying in the amount to upload
- Make the necessary adjustments to ensure that you enter the correct amount. If you key in an excess amount, the transaction will fail. It you enter a too small amount, you will leave some money in your Payoneer account. Please note that Payoneer charges $3 per month maintenance fees. In order to avoid this cost, make sure your account has a minimal amount of money at the end of each month.
- Once the money is in your Skrill account, select ‘Skrill It’. Google search the link if you can’t locate it
- When
you get a banner with ‘send money to
- Enter your birthday to confirm the transaction
- You instantly receive an SMS from Mpesa!
Conclusion
Looks like a long process? I can assure you it isn’t. If you
follow the procedure properly, you’ll need to do it only once. If you ever get
an issue at any point, you can enter your query in the comment or contact
section. This is the simplest and cheapest way or transferring money from
Paypal to Mpesa.
