How to Open a PayPal Account in Kenya

PayPal is a leading online wallet that allows the transfer of funds between individuals and businesses. The service has become very popular with Kenyans in recent days due to its convenience in both sending and receiving money online.

This is mostly with the individuals and businesses that do online transactions such as e-commerce and freelancing.  Below is a step-by-step process of how to Open a PayPal account in Kenya.

There are two types of accounts that you can open with PayPal.

Personal account – A personal account allows you to send and receive funds from individuals and businesses across the world.

Business account – It is an upgrade of the personal account with additional capabilities such as accepting payments and sending invoices.

Hence, you need to choose the type of account that suits your needs. Let’s look at how to open a personal account with PayPal in Kenya

Personal Account

Step 1: Visit the PayPal portal and click account sign up  Then select a personal account.

Step 2:  Put in your mobile number and verify the OTP sent to your phone. Once verified, click continue to the next page.

Step 3: Fill in the details as per the request. This includes your email address, full name, and putting password.

Step 4: This step involves filling in more details such as nationality, date of birth, identity card number, and postal address. Once complete, you should agree to the terms and click create an account.

Step 5: Link your card details with PayPal. This involves submitting either your debit or credit details to the platform to allow seamless funds transfer on the platform.

Step 6: Confirm your email address. At this step, you should confirm the email address you gave earlier by clicking a link or code sent to it. 

PayPal accepts various types of cards in Kenya such as VISA and MasterCard.

Business account

Step 1: Visit the PayPal portal and click the Signup. Then chose the business account.

Step 2: Chose the type of business. This could either be a sole proprietorship or a company. After this, you should choose either to create a new account or upgrade an existing account

Step 3: Provide the key business details such as business name, registration number, email address, and physical address. The names of the business owner are also required.

Step 4: After providing all the details, you should confirm your email address through the link to your email.

Step 5: Put in your bank details. This includes information such as bank name and bank account number. Once complete, you should wait for PayPal to verify and approve your business account upon which you will receive the final confirmation.

M-PESA and PayPal

PayPal has an existing partnership with M-PESA that enables you to move funds between the two wallets. Due to the dominance of M-PESA usage in the country, the majority of mobile money users are preferring to link the two for convenience and flexibility.

How to link M-PESA and PayPal

Step 1: Visit the PayPal and M-Pesa mobile money portal

Step 2: Log in with your PayPal credentials. If you don’t have an account already, you should proceed to sign up and agree to the terms and conditions.

Step 3: Add the M-Pesa phone number that you want to link. A confirmation code will be sent to the phone number provided for verification.

Step 4: Once verified, your M-PESA will be successfully linked to your PayPal account allowing you to freely move funds between the two wallets.