Safaricom has announced a partnership with PayPal and TransferTo that will allow M-Pesa users to receive money from any PayPal account across the world directly into their M-PESA accounts in real time.
Also, it will be possible for PayPal users in Kenya to load their PayPal wallets via M-Pesa PayBill number 800088. PayPal is believed to be using the partnership to target Kenya’s growing e-commerce sector, which is witnessing a surge in transactions as more people turn to online shopping as their appetite for convenience grows.
With this new development, Safaricom is going for Equity Bank’s lunch as far as remittances are concerned. Until now, PayPal withdrawals in Kenya were only possible through Equity Bank. In comparison to Equity Bank, Safaricom’s M-Pesa network is far much more accessible, through its 148,000 M-PESA agents around the country vis-à-vis Equity’s estimated 266 bank branches and 40,000 agents.
Money Transfer
The transaction between PayPal and M-Pesa is being powered by TransferTo, a B2B Cross-Border Mobile Payments Network for emerging markets. The money transfer will not be instant, meaning users will not see the amount reflect on their M-Pesa accounts until after a certain period, between four hours and up to 3 days, depending on the amount transferred.
