Looking for a Trusted PayPal Alternative For International Transactions in Africa? Then look no further because you are at the right post. A trusted PayPal alternative is one of the key searches businesses in Africa carry out as they expand to other countries and international transactions commence.
All over Africa, both small and big businesses trade locally and internationally. Trading locally does not give a lot of hassles as the business is done in local currencies and transacted through local banks. However, when it comes to international trade, the currencies change.
International trade involves the sales of goods and services to buyers in different countries other than the country of the seller. This means that payment will be made in a different currency to the seller depending on the country where the buyer is. However, if no payment system makes the transaction process easy, this affects business badly, especially in Africa.
As a means of providing solutions to Africans, PayPal came to Africa. This article will explore what PayPal is and the alternatives to PayPal. Let’s dive in!
What Is PayPal?
PayPal is a worldwide online payment system, founded in 1998 and located in San Jose, California. It is available in 202 countries and 25 currencies around the world. It is a go-to payment system for online businesses.
There are different ways of making payments through PayPal, which are:
- Credit cards
- Bank accounts
- PayPal smart connect or account balance
Now that you know what PayPal is, let’s look at why people use it.
Why Do People Use PayPal?
There are different reasons why people make use of PayPal. Some of the reasons are:
- It is safe
- It is an easy way of making payments
- Security of financial information
- It is a trusted brand
- It is simple to use
These reasons, however, don’t take away the fact that PayPal has both pros and cons.
Pros and Cons of Using PayPal
In this section, we will discuss the pros and cons of using PayPal, beginning with the pros/advantages.
The Pros of Using PayPal For International Transactions
The pros of using PayPal are:
- Easy means of making payments
- Easy means of receiving payments
- Free shipping services for returned items
- High chance of getting a refund from merchants who do not deliver on their promise.
The Cons of Using PayPal
- High-chargeback fees when receiving money
- Accounts can be frozen unexpectedly and take a while before you can prove that you did nothing wrong.
- It is a strong target for scammers
- Additional fees when transferring from PayPal to your bank account
PayPal is just like any other system that works. It will have its good sides and bad sides. In the end, it is a matter of choice. The user has to decide whether to use PayPal as a payment system or not.
If you feel that the cons of PayPal are enough to deter you from using PayPal, then keep reading as alternatives to PayPal will be listed.
Trusted PayPal Alternative To Receive And Send Money in Africa
There are different Trusted PayPal Alternative For International Transactions in Africa and they are:
1. About Flutterwave
Flutterwave is an online payment system. It is a fintech company with the mission of simplifying payments for small and big businesses and even individuals in Africa. It was founded in the year 2016 by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Olugbenga Agboola, and Adeleke Adekoya and has its headquarters in San Francisco, California. They have operations in 11 African countries including Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana.
Flutterwave Global Reach
- Accept payments in more than 30 countries
- An Average number of 500k+ processed payments daily
- 20M+ API calls
- 15+ payment options
- Debit and credit card
- Mobile money
- M-Pesa
- Bank transfer
- USSD
- Visa QR
Recommended: How Does Flutterwave Work? (All You Need to Know About Flutterwave)
Flutterwave Partnership with PayPal to Enable Borderless Payment in Africa
PayPal has been in Nigeria since 2014 and also in different African countries, however, the services that could be accessed were limited. This was because of the cases of fraud that have been committed in association with Nigerians.
Apart from the fraud risks, PayPal has also not been accessible to some African countries and the businesses in those countries have no means of accessing payments from other parts of the world. To bridge the gap, Flutterwave partnered with PayPal to connect the 200 million plus users of PayPal to the different businesses in African countries.
This partnership between Flutterwave and PayPal means a lot to African businesses now have access to sell to customers in any part of the world and be paid. This is one of the biggest collaborations for African businesses and endorses Flutterwave as a trusted PayPal alternative in Africa.
Services and Products Offered By Flutterwave
Flutterwave offers the following services to its users:
- Physical and Virtual cards
- Invoice generation for customers
- Free eCommerce store/website for selling worldwide
- Accept payments
- Single or bulk transfers
- Access to over 600+ businesses like Uber, MTN, Chipper, etc.
Flutterwave Transaction Fee
The transaction fee of Flutterwave is 4.4% of the transaction value (+$0.30) per transaction.
Recommended: Best Ways to Make Money with Flutterwave
2. Payoneer
Payoneer is an American financial services company that provides online money transfer, and digital payment services and provides customers with working capital which was founded in 2005 by Yuval Tal. With Payoneer, you can trade faster and more smoothly. Some of the notable achievements since its inception till date include;
- They collaborated with Etsy in October 2023 to make getting paid easier for sellers in emerging markets.
- Joined forces with Alibaba.com to offer grants to American SMBs to help boost their business growth
- Partnered with EC21, a Korean Based Global B2B marketplace.
- In 2021, Payoneer partnered with eBay and Coupang.
- Became a publicly listed company (NASDAQ: PAYO) in 2021.
Note: This is not an all-inclusive list. We have only mentioned a fraction of Payoneer’s achievements. To get more of this, you can check here.
How To Get Started On Payoneer
If you are wondering how you can get started on Payoneer, by the time you are done reading this section, all your queries will be answered. To get started on Payoneer, for someone who doesn’t have an account with them previously, follow these steps.
1. Documents To Create An Account:
Firstly, open/register with Payoneer. This process is seamless as it requires only your basic details for the account setup process. The needed details are your personal information, including your full name, email address, date of birth, and a secure password. Others include; Government-issued ID, Proof of address. and Bank verification document.
2. Setup Your Account:
The step involved in creating an account is to setup the account. What you need to do here is to
- Click on the sign-up button. By taking this action, you will earn a welcome bonus of $25.
- Select the type of account you want. Is it Freelancer, Agency or Service Provider?
- Next select your aim of creating the account: either your are looking to get paid by international clients or you want to pay your clients.
- Ensure to provide the monthly sales volume
- Click on the sign-up button and then move on to click either the individual or company space provided. Depending on what you want. (Note: If it is a company you are opening the account for, you must have an income tax return or a GST.)
Follow the instructions and provide the necessary information keenly.
Steps to Create a Payoneer Account Without Bank Account
Incase you don’t have a bank account and want to create a Payoneer account, follow the steps provided below:
- Create an account on Fiverr.com.
- Go to the Settings menu and click on the Earnings under the Selling tab.
- On the next screen, click on the Withdrawal options.
- Out of the three Withdrawal options, open the Payoneer Bank Transfer.
- Go to the Payoneer registration page.
- Finally, complete the registration process.
- That’s it! This is how you can open a Payoneer account without a bank account.
- If you don’t have a Fiverr account, you can use any of the below-listed websites and sign up for Payoneer without adding the bank account details.
Pros And Cons Of Using Payoneer
Let us briefly look at the pros and cons of using Payoneer.
Pros
- Send and withdraw money directly with a Debit card
- No Payoneer fees for receiving international transaction
- 24/7 customer support
- Supports payments using an E-check
- Provides mobile app service for easy transfers
Cons
- Higher exchange fees as compared to Paypal
- Requires $20,000 of the minimum monthly payment
- 2% to 2.75% currency conversion charge
- High Mastercard exchange rates for non-listed currency
- Lengthy signup process with lots of paperwork
3. Western Union
The Western Union is a multinational financial services corporation which was founded in 1851 in Rochester, New York, United States by Ezra Cornell, Jeptha Wade, Hiram Sibley, and Samuel L. Selden. As we go on, you will see how to use Western Union for your transactions effectively.
How To Recieve Money From Western Union Through Cash Pickups
The steps on how to receive money from Western Union through cash pickups is listed below, afterwhich we will look into how to recieve money through bank account.
- Visit the nearest Wester Union location around you.
- Provide the details of the sender such as their names, amount expected and the tracking number.
- Provide a proof for your identification. Preferrably a Government-issued ID.
- Wait patiently for your identity to be verified
- After your identity has been verified, you will recieve your mone.
How To Recive Money From Western Union Through Bank Account.
In case of whether you want o recieve money through a bank account, it is quite simple if you follow this steps listed below.
- Provide your bank account number.
- Ensure to explain the purpose of remittance
- Provide your mobile number
- Once it is verified, you will be given your money.
Note: Please use care when providing bank account information. Funds will be paid into the bank account corresponding to account number you provide. The receiver’s account must be a local currency payout account. If you’re sending to a company or an institution, please provide the business’ name, bank account number, bank name, and bank routing number (SwiftBIC).
How To Track A Transfer On Western Union
To track a track a transferon Western Union, you need to have a tracking number MTCN.
How To Use MTCN to Track Your Funds:
- Click on Track transfer on Western Union’s website.
- Choose whether you’re the sender or the receiver.
- Enter the MTCN and click Continue.
- Make sure you complete any additional steps that the website requests, such as verifying your identity if necessary.
Pros And Cons Of Using Western Union
Pros
- Western Union allows you to send money to over 200 countries and territories worldwide.
- They are reliable
- Easy to send and receive money
- Track your money transfer in real time, so you know exactly when it’s arrived, bringing you peace of mind.
Cons
According to Quora, you can say that you are sending money to Schenectady New York, and have it End up in central Africa someplace and there’s nothing you can do. As long as they have your secret password or whatever it is, they can draw the money out and you have no recourse.
If you’re still wondering why people use Western Union or have any questions, check out FAQs guide, or reach out to their customer support. 4. TransferGo: Trusted PayPal Alternative For International Transactions
TransferGo is used to send or receive money. It is fast, easy to navigated/use and requires little to no fees. To use TransferGo to send money, follow these steps:
- Register an account.
- Choose the amount you wish to send
- Provide the details of the reciever
- Transfer is fast.
One major advantage of using TransferGo is that it has an End-to-end encryption which protects customers’ money and data. Should a transfer ever fail special safeguarding measures ensure that everyone gets their money back. – TransferGo.
Conclusion: Trusted PayPal Alternative For International Transactions
In conclusion, this article has successfully discussed four althernatives to using Paypal in Africa. With the information gathered in this post you will be able to make great decisions as regarding sending or recieving money both locally and internationally. Carefully go through it and if you have any question, or clarification or assistance let us know in the comment section.
