Using A PayPal Account In Kenya

Last time I left off by stating how I got my KCB General Purpose Card and my PayPal Account In Kenya enabled so today I’ll talk about using a PayPal Account In Kenya and which better example than how I got to pay for the domain and hosting of my personal blog!

I’ll chose to talk about how I paid for the hosting since the payment processes are almost the same. Let’s say I had XYZ amount of money in my KCB account before I got charged the $1.95 for registering a PayPal Account In Kenya. After I got charged the small fee to certain I was the rightful owner, my balance became XYZ-$1.95 but after I got my PayPal Account in Kenya verified, my bank account still showed XYZ-$1.95 and this is because the $1.95 was not added back into my bank account but into my PayPal account.

The balance in my PayPal account was only $1.95 and here’s where things get interesting->I couldn’t deposit the $1.95 back into my bank account nor add funds into my PayPal account from my bank account that now had XYZ-$1.95. The good news is that PayPal works in Kenya but the sad news is that PayPal doesn’t support withdrawal of funds from Kenyan banks or vice versa.

Below are the replies for the 2 emails I sent to PayPal; the former concerning the addition of funds from my bank account into my PayPal Account in Kenya and the latter concerning withdrawal of funds from my PayPal Account in Kenya into my bank account.(The only part I removed in both the emails was part of my name)

Setting The Record Straight: How A PayPal Account In Kenya Works

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Dear Brian,

My name is Meriam from PayPal Customer Support.

For Kenyan PayPal account adding funds using a bank or card is unavailable. A PayPal account was designed to be country specific due to the different financial regulations in each country or a set of countries which we would need to comply with.  

If you intend to send payment, you’d be glad to know that you don’t need to add funds into your PayPal account. You can actually send money directly from your Visa credit card ending in xx19 through your PayPal account.

When you initiate a payment, the payment will be directly charged to your card. All you have to do is use the Send Money tab on your PayPal account to initiate the payment, or go directly to the merchant’s website and choose PayPal as the payment method.

Rest assured that PayPal will be the one to process your payment from your card. I hope you find this helpful.

Don’t forget, we’re always around if you need us. Just click “Help” in the top right corner of any PayPal page to visit our improved Help Center.

Sincerely,

Meriam

PayPal, an eBay Company

Copyright© 2012 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved.

Consumer advisory: PayPal Pte Ltd, the Holder of the PayPal™ payment service stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Consumers (users) are advised to read the terms and conditions carefully.

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Dear Brian,

 Hi. My name is Shen from PayPal Customer Support.

At this time, Kenyan PayPal accounts don’t have the ability to withdraw money using a local bank account or to a card. The only option will be adding a US bank account.

PayPal needs to ensure compliance with local and international laws before implementing a PayPal feature in a particular country.  I have taken note of your inquiry and will be sending your feedback to our International Team.

We will be sure to notify you once this service is available in your country. PayPal is continuously working on providing features that will cater to all your needs. We would appreciate any suggestion or feedback you can give us.

If you need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We will be more than willing to help. Thank you for choosing PayPal.

Sincerely,

Shen

PayPal, an eBay Company

Copyright© 2012 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved.

Consumer advisory: PayPal Pte Ltd, the Holder of the PayPal™ payment service stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Consumers (users) are advised to read the terms and conditions carefully.

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So how did I pay for the hosting services of www.scopegater.com? If you read what Meriam wrote, it’s clear that you don’t need to add funds into your PayPal Account in Kenya from your bank account so long as your bank account has got some cash.

I went over to HostGater and picked the PayPal payment option and with just $1.95 in my PayPal account I checked out. The balance in my PayPal Account in Kenya went to $0.00.

For those who may still be asking how I paid for hosting with only $1.95 in my PayPal Account in Kenya, let me simplify it:

My GP card had XYZ-$1.95 and my PayPal account had $1.95 so the total was XYZ, (XYZ-$1.95+$1.95=XYZ), which was the amount I had in my account in the beginning before registering for PayPal. What happened when I used my KCB General Purpose Card to pay for hosting services at HostGater was that PayPal deducted the hosting amount which we shall call H from XYZ ( total amount in my PayPal  and bank accounts).

All that Meriam said is true and I’ve just proved it to you: you don’t need to add funds from your Kenyan bank account to your PayPal account; PayPal will charge the necessary amount from your Kenyan bank account. As from Shen’s reply it’s clear that one cannot withdraw funds from a PayPal account in Kenya to a local Kenyan bank-for this you’ll have to open up a US bank account.

The above is how a PayPal Account in Kenya works.