PayPal Kenya: How to create PayPal account in Kenya (2024 Update)

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PayPal has revolutionized online shopping, offering convenience and security while enabling easy money transfers online.

Presently, PayPal serves as a global standard for online payments, and the good news is that possessing a credit card is no longer a prerequisite for operating a PayPal account.

It is the easiest and safest way to make transactions because it allows payments without exposing your PayPal business debit MasterCard details to the seller.

In a country with an increase in the number of people working online, having a PayPal account is necessary when it comes to receiving payment online.

I made this tutorial to help you start creating a PayPal account in Kenya immediately. You can also check your PayPal Balance and receive money from anyone.

How to open a PayPal account in Kenya

To Open a PayPal Account in Kenya, follow these steps:

  1. Visit PayPal.com on a computer
  2. Choose the Type of Account (Personal or Business)
  3. Enter your personal information
  4. Activate the account via Email
  5. Link your debit card or credit card
  6. Use PayPal to send and receive money in Kenya or worldwide.

It is easy to open a PayPal account; now, let’s explore the above steps in detail.

What can you do with PayPal in Kenya?

With a PayPal account in Kenya, you can do many things online more accessible than before, like:

  • Shop Online
  • Sell Online
  • Get paid online through Freelancing websites or from someone else or a business.
  • Receive money online

How to Make a PayPal Account in Kenya

PayPal’s mode of operation is straightforward: the money is transferred to your PayPal account, previously created through your credit card or regular bank account.

You use a PayPal account (Usually your email account) instead of a credit card to make online purchases, make payments you want, or receive money online.

A significant advantage of PayPal is that when you send or receive payment through PayPal, no sensitive financial information, such as the number of your credit card or bank account, will be revealed to the other party.

For all this, there is cause for concern when the situation involves making payments to people you do not know.

The following is how to create a PayPal account and begin sending and receiving money online in Kenya; the process is the same for everyone worldwide, so if you are not from Kenya, don’t stop here.

Step 1: Signing up for PayPal Account

First, you must go to the PayPal site ( www.paypal.com ). When you get to the platform, it will automatically redirect to https://www.paypal.com/ke/webapps/mpp/home because they have a Geolocation feature that will automatically detect your location.

They have different policies and terms and conditions for other regions and countries, but that should not matter. Registration is free; you have nothing to lose!

Registration is free. However, you must have an email account that you can access and a very nice strong password. Just click sign up, and you will see the following screen.

As you can see, the country is pre-selected for you, and the language defaults to English; you may wish to change these according to your language. Then you have a choice between an Individual account and a business account.

I will always recommend that you opt for the individual account now. There is always room for upgrading to a business account later on. Here is a brief overview of the two types of accounts.

Here is a brief overview of the two types of accounts:

Personal Account

A personal statement is intended for all who buy online, receive money, or occasionally withdraw money from your card. It is the most suitable for primary use.

Business account

A business account is helpful to businesses, companies, or groups. You will use your business or company name, and there are more advanced features, such as the creation of invoices and more customer details, that I will not go into at this level.

Now that you have chosen the type of account you want to use fill out the form with your details. Do not use false data; this can have profound implications, such as failure to verify your account and the overall closure of your account.

Then, just read the user agreement (recommended), click agree and create the account. If you follow this process correctly, you will have completed the first part of creating a PayPal account.

PayPal Kenya Signup Screen

 

Personal Account Signup 

 

Step 2: PayPal Kenya Account Activation

The next screen will link your credit card, as shown in the screenshot below. You can link from here with your credit card (VISA, MasterCard, Nakumatt Card, or Naivas Card).

Otherwise, if you don’t have the card now, you can close that window safely and follow the next steps.

Link your Credit Card or ignore it if you don’t have one and link it later

After you have completed the initial process, you must activate the account you created. To do this, go to the email inbox.

PayPal will send an activation email to the email address you provided during registration with a link. Check for an email with the subject: “Welcome to PayPal.”

By clicking the Activate button in the PayPal email you received. You will be directed to your account to enter the password created upon registration.

After successfully entering and confirming the password, you must choose two security questions, write their answer, and indicate the nationality; you should already be correct.

Finally, after all these steps, you will see a page with a yellow rectangle that says, “You have changed your questions and successful security responses” just activate your PayPal account successfully.

Step 3: Linking your Card With PayPal

You are charged a small fee by linking your credit or debit card. The amount is refunded to your account after your card has been checked.

You can use any card from your bank, but first, it is recommended to inquire with the bank to know the process.

Equity bank PayPal registration

Are you looking for an updated Equity Paypal Withdrawal Guide? Today, I will show you how to activate and link your PayPal account with Equity Bank for first-time use. I will also show you how to withdraw money from PayPal to Equity Bank, which is the recommended process since it’s fast and secure.

The Equity Bank Withdraw Service with PayPal allows any PayPal account holder in Kenya to withdraw funds from your PayPal account to your Equity Bank account. This Withdrawal service is only exclusive to Equity Bank customers.

The Withdraw service is available to both Individual and Business customers with an active transaction Equity Bank account. A transaction account is most Equity Bank active accounts in Ksh, GBP, USD, or EUR, excluding credit cards.

Note: PayPal transactions are mainly carried out in U.S. Dollars; even if your account contains funds in a different currency, PayPal will auto-convert those funds into U.S. Dollars during withdrawal. So next time you withdraw funds from your PayPal account, kindly remember to specify the U.S. Dollar amount you want to remove.

Equity Bank has a USD 10,000 transaction limit, and the Kenyan Shilling is not a PayPal-supported currency.

Linking PayPal Account to Equity Bank Account

To connect your PayPal account to Equity,

  1. Visit the Equity Bank Website and select PayPal
  2. If you do not have a PayPal account, click on the “sign up for PayPal account” menu button and proceed to fill out the form provided; otherwise, select “Withdraw from PayPal.”
  3. Log in to the self-service portal using your username and password on the new tab. If you are new, click register and complete the registration process, which is a one-time process.
  4. Once logged in to your account, click on the “Banking services” Menu
  5. Enter your preferred bank account and click “Link Account.”
  6. A One Time Pin (OTP) will be generated, which will be sent to the phone number maintained by Equity Bank for the nominated account
  7. Enter the OTP and click “Confirm OTP.”
  8. From the menu list, click “PayPal Services.”
  9. Enter your PayPal email address, select the bank account added in the step above, and click “Link Account.”
  10. Enter your PayPal Account Password and click “Authorize” in the pop-up window.

Withdrawing from PayPal to Equity Bank Account

Equity Bank will then have to check and verify your details during the withdrawal process before redirecting you to your PayPal account to confirm the withdrawal process.

Steps

  • Visit the Equity Bank Self-Service web portal
  • If you’re a new user, click on the ” New User/Register’ button and proceed to fill out the form displayed.
  • Log in to your account and click “Withdraw Service” on the PayPal Services Menu.
  • Select the PayPal account linked as shown above.
  • Enter the amount you want to withdraw, which should be less than or equal to your PayPal Account Balance.
  • Click on the “Accept” button.
  • A pop-up will display the message “Your PayPal withdrawal of amount XX was successful.”

Note:

A withdrawal from PayPal to an Equity Bank account takes three business days to reflect in your Equity Bank account. In contrast, payment from another PayPal user to your PayPal account is instant.

You can check your PayPal account balance by clicking “My PayPal Balance” on the PayPal Services Menu. Select your linked account by clicking the “Submit request” button to display your account balance.

PayPal fees

  • The PayPal account setup is free of charge.
  • When receiving funds into your payPal account, you charge between 2.4% and 3.9% + $0.30 per transaction, i.e., when receiving funds into your PayPal account.
  • PayPal currency conversion fees may apply at 2.5% above the prevailing exchange rate.

Advantages of the PayPal to Equity Withdraw Service

  • Equity Bank has a fixed commission rate of 1.5% for whatever amount you withdraw.
  • It takes three business days for your withdrawal from your PayPal account to reflect in your Equity Bank account.
  • Equity Bank’s PayPal-Dollar to Ksh conversion rate is much better than other platforms offering PayPal withdrawals.

PayPal to M-Pesa Integration in Kenya

Since Safaricom brokered the deal with PayPal to facilitate sending and withdrawing money across the platforms, the news was received with mixed reactions by people who rely on PayPal to receive salaries or those that use PayPal to purchase goods online. As such, the big elephant in the room has been how to withdraw and deposit money from PayPal to M-Pesa in Kenya.

People have adopted the trend lately since the withdrawal process is straightforward and fast. It takes 2 hours for the money to be processed on a typical day. This cannot be compared to the three days that one had to wait previously with the PayPal-Equity withdrawal.

I wrote a review of the PayPal-M-Pesa deal here. At that time, the platform was still new, and I wasn’t quite familiar with some of the processes. However, we will review each withdrawal and deposit detail in this review.

I want to clarify that I did not know earlier that if the name you used to register does not match the one you used to register your M-Pesa line, you can always change your PayPal name until it reaches your M-Pesa name. I hope that is clearer now.

Onto the day’s main topic, withdrawal and depositing money from PayPal, is not as straightforward as many people would expect or wish it to be. But not to worry, we are here for the same reason, to make it seem easy for you.

Withdrawing from PayPal to Mpesa

  • This is where it all starts; open the PayPal-M-Pesa portal here
  • Tap on the GET STARTED button that will redirect you to log in
  • Log In with your PayPal credentials
  • Give the service access to your PayPal account by clicking AGREE on the popup menu.
  • Add your M-Pesa phone number; you will receive a verification code that you will use to LINK YOUR ACCOUNT.
  • Enter the amount you want to withdraw from your PayPal account in USD.
  • You will be redirected to a page showing the amount to be received in KES, the exchange rate used for the currency conversion, and the estimated transaction processing time.
  • Confirm and complete the withdrawal of money.
  • You must access this portal whenever you want to withdraw money from your PayPal account; there’s no other way.

Depositing to PayPal from Mpesa

  1. The service allows one to deposit into their PayPal wallet, and the process is as follows:
  2. Open M-Pesa on your phone
  3. Go to PayBill and enter PayBill number 800088
  4. Enter the phone number you linked your PayBill account to as the account number
  5. Enter the Amount and complete the transaction

Important to note

  • The service is not free
  • You will be charged specific fees, such as a 3% conversion rate, when withdrawing.
  • You will be charged a 4% conversion rate when depositing
  • M-Pesa PayBill charges that can go up to Kes.220 still apply
  • Transaction limits – Ksh. Seventy thousand per transaction and Ksh. 140,000 per day.
  • Withdrawal amount – M-Pesa accounts can only hold Ksh. One hundred thousand at any one time to be aware of that when downloading.

Watch Video on How to Open Paypal Account in Kenya

Video Credit: David Mbugua on Youtube

Philemon Shisia
Philemon Shisia
Philemon is a talented published author who contributes to the LUYA blog, showcasing their passion for content creation through writing articles. Their enthusiasm spans across a wide spectrum of topics, demonstrating their versatility and dedication to delivering engaging and informative content. With their expertise in crafting articles, Philemon captivates readers with well-crafted and thought-provoking pieces.

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