Equity Bank and Safaricom, a Kenyan lending platform and a telecom platform, are courting PayPal customers seeking to make transfer account funds more quickly and easily, according to Business Daily Africa. The agreement signed by Equity Bank means customers can now cash their PayPal accounts in three days instead of the earlier eight day transaction period. Paypal users are mainly merchants on eBay and global freelancers.
“We have worked closely with Equity Bank to make a few changes towards a faster and simpler withdrawal service for you. The outcome is that now the money you withdraw from your PayPal account will reach your Equity Bank account in just three business days instead of eight,”a statement informed Kenyan PayPal customers.
Safaricom clients will also benefit from Paypal’s Xoom, which enables them to more quickly access and transfer money from their mobile phones.
“Xoom, a PayPal service, recently launched in Kenya. Xoom users are now able to send money directly to anyone with an M-Pesa account in Kenya,” commented Xoom Global PR Manager Karla Enriquez.
Equity Bank linked with PayPal in late 2013 as the lender sought to grow revenue from e-commerce, particularly eBay. Paypal services at Equity bank now include withdrawal services where users may withdraw money paid into their Paypal accounts, with transaction limit of Sh1 million ($10,000). Equity Bank aims to tap into PayPal’s global customer base of over 188 million users based in over 193 markets.