Withdrawing Money from PayPal via M-Pesa

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Safaricom entered into a B2B arrangement with PayPal to provide M-Pesa users that have PayPal accounts with an opportunity to transfer funds from their PayPal accounts directly to their preferred mobile phone numbers.  Before the PayPal-M-Pesa arrangement, the transfer of funds from PayPal was dominated by Equity Bank where one was required to link a specific  Equity account with PayPal to effect withdrawals. With Equity, it took you 3 days to get your cash credited into your bank account. Although their terms indicated 3 working days, it normally took 3 days whether working or otherwise. For Example, a withdrawal made on Thursday would reflect in your account on Sunday.

So, how long does it take for your PayPal withdrawal to be credited into your M-Pesa account? With M-Pesa, one can have their funds credited within 4 different timelines, as described below:

1) 2 hours: For amounts that convert to less than KES. 20,000 provided this is the first withdrawal of the day. For example, if your PayPal account has a balance of US$ 700, if you withdraw KES. 19,800, you will receive the amount in 2 hours.

2) 24 hours: Amounts from KES. 20,000 to less than KES. 50,000 will be credited in 24 hours provided this is the first transaction of the day. For example, if you withdraw KES. 20,068 or KES. 39,158, as the first transaction of the day, the amount will reflect in your account in exactly 24 hours, as shown below.

3) 2 days: Any amount that is below KES. 50,000 and more than KES. 40,000 will reflect in your M-Pesa balance in 2-clock days (exactly 48 hours). For example, a withdrawal of KES. 48,947 takes 2 days to reflect in your M-Pesa balance, as shown below.

4) 3 Days: Any amounts equal to or above KES. 50,000 will hit your M-Pesa account in 3-clock days (exactly 72 hours by the second). For instance, withdrawing KES. 68,526 (see image below) on Monday at 10:12 AM means that the amount will be credited to your account on Thursday at exactly 10:12 AM.

Kindly note that all M-Pesa terms and conditions apply. For example, you can only withdraw a maximum of KES. 70,000 per transaction and your M-Pesa balance at any given time shall not exceed KES. 100,000. Any attempt to overlook these terms will have your transaction declined. For your convenience, PayPal indicates these terms below your transaction details.

While the PayPal-to-M-Pesa transactions will not cost you anything in the form of commission fees except for the standard M-Pesa withdrawal fees, please note that their dollar-to-shilling exchange rate is quite low compared to the dollar market rates from your local Forex Bureau. For example, the standard dollar exchange rate at the time of writing this article was USD 1 = KES.  100.95, as shown below. However, PayPal-M-Pesa was exchanging at USD 1 = KES. 97.89, as displayed in the image above. Altogether, this rate does not differ significantly from the commercial bank rates that you would get, say from Equity or Cooperative Bank, for example.

IMPORTANT!!! The service is NOT AVAILABLE from your usual www.paypal.com website; it can only be accessed through this dedicated website. HOWEVER, you MUST first create and verify a PayPal account here before being able to transact using the mobile money transfer service.

Please Note: The screenshots provided in this article are from a reliable, verified, independent source. If you have experienced this service, kindly share your comments and help build an informed community. Thank you in advance!