Photo Credit: Nation Media Group
Update: NationHela have suspended PayPal loads. Currently you can’t withdraw from PayPal using NationHela. Click here for more.
Update 7th Jan, 2013: ePay have suspended PayPal transactions. Click here for more
NationHela has been the newest talk of town. Both freelancers and money transfer customers have been flooding Google, NationHela customer care and DTB looking for answers on just how it works.Read on for a thorough and impartial review on it.
I appreciate two great FreelancerKenya readers, Lucy and Benleem who have really helped with the facts. You can check out interactions with them in the comments section of the post, iWriter Suspends Kenya.
What is NationHela?
It is a money transfer service pioneered by Nation Media Group in conjunction with DTB Bank. It allows users to send and receive money using the prepaid NationHela debit card. Users can receive cash from other services such as MoneyGram and international credit/debit cards. What’s more, you can also use it to withdraw money from PayPal which is great news for freelancers. The big question is, how does it compare to ePay-Kenya and Payoneer which have been our trusted friends in terms of PayPal withdrawal? We’ll look into that shortly.
How Does NationHela Work?
1. Registration
- Buy their card from DTB or any authorized distributor here. The card costs Sh. 500 but it is more of a free card since you’ll get Sh. 500 in the card once you activate it.
- Register as instructed by the agent.
- Your phone number will then become your account number so you will not need any other physical account.
- Visit their site through the link below this post and do a one time registration.
2. Sending Cash from NationHela
- Dial *348# from your phone and follow the prompts to send to another Hela user, M-Pesa or to pay a bill. Click here to see their charges.
- Sign in to your online account and send cash to another NationHela user. Just go to Transactions > Wallet to Wallet Transfer.
2. Withdrawing Money From PayPal
- Go to the NationHela homepage
- Click on “Send Money Here”. You don’t have to log in.
- Follow the clear prompts given
- On payment details, choose PayPal
- You’ll receive the money within 24 hours in your card. This will be indicated in a text message.
- Transfer the cash to your M-Pesa account, withdraw it from an ATM, make a Visa transaction in a supermarket or any other place accepting Visa or use it to pay your electricity or water bill
Comparison between ePay-Kenya, The NationHela Card and the Payoneer Card for PayPal Withdrawals
As stated above, this has been the biggest question in all freelancers’ minds. We’ll compare different areas that are important to a freelancer.
1. Charges
In my article, How to Get Your First Million Freelancing in Kenya, I conducted a poll which shows that most freelancers in Kenya earn between Sh. 5,000 and Sh. 100,000. Therefore, let’s look at a scenario where one earns $500 a month and compare the three options above. Let’s also assume that the dollar rate for today is Sh. 80 per dollar.
i) ePay-Kenya
Go to ePay-Kenya and use their calculator to see what you’ll receive when withdrawing $500. Currently, it shows you’ll receive Sh. 37,146 in your M-Pesa or Airtel Money account.
ii) NationHela
The current NationHela charges are as below:
| Amount Withdrawn in dollars | Transaction Fees |
| 1-50 |
$6.50 |
| 51-200 |
$10 |
| 201 -250 |
$12.50 |
The withdrawal limit is $250 per transaction therefore to withdraw $500 you would need to do two $250 transactions. These will both cost you $12.50 therefore a total of $25. Your net income in dollars will be $475 which will translate to Sh. 38,000 on your NationHela card.
iii) Payoneer
Payoneer has the following charges:
|
ATM Withdrawal |
$2.15 |
|
ATM Withdrawal Decline |
$0.9 |
|
Monthly Account Maintenance (0-2 transactions per month) |
$3 |
|
Monthly Account Maintenance (3+ transactions per month) |
$1 |
|
Receiving cash from PayPal |
1% of the amount sent |
|
Activation Fee (charged once) |
$30 |
Going back to our example, when you send $500 from PayPal to Payoneer, you’ll receive less 1% which is $495 in your Payoneer account. Here you can deduct the monthly fee $3 and ATM withdrawal fee $2.15. You’ll remain with $489.85 which translates to Sh. 39,188!
2. Duration
ePay-Kenya delivers the fastest. You will get the cash within minutes after withdrawing. With NationHela, you’ll get the cash latest in 24 hours. Payoneer takes the longest time since you get the cash in 3 days.
3. Additional Fees
The calculations for Payoneer above are exact, actual calculations for receiving cash at the time of writing. For ePay-Kenya and NationHela, there are additional fees for withdrawing from M-Pesa or through the ATM. If you are on Safaricom, NationHela will deduct Sh. 10-15 every time you access their USSD portal via *348#.
Important Points to Note
- It is better to use Airtel to register instead of Safaricom in case you have two SIM cards. Airtel does not deduct Sh. 10-15 every time you dial *348#
- NationHela currently has a sending limit of $250 for any single transaction
- Once you get the NationHela card, you get a bonus of Sh. 500 which is the amount you spent buying it in the first place. If you choose to use the card to purchase something in a supermarket, no fees will be charged and you’ll have gotten the card absolutely free.
- Avoid withdrawing small amounts of less than $100 using any of these systems. In fact, if things are tough you can go for $50 strictly using Payoneer which is the most affordable. If you withdraw very few dollars, you will end up with almost 50% the value of the cash you want to withdraw if you use ePay or Nationhela. In fact the larger amounts you withdraw, the more economical it will be for you.
- It is wise to apply for all these systems at once and use them at the appropriate times. They are all free to apply although for NationHela you’ll need to actually pay the Sh. 500 then get it back as a bonus in your account.
- If you apply for a Payoneer card using the link below, you’ll get $25 absolutely free.
- You’ll find a lot of negative reviews on the NationHela card but ignore all that, most of this is just noise from people who have and will never use it. It actually works and comes for free. As I once said, let others make noise as you make money.
- Once you receive your NationHela card, give it at least 3 days before you start using it so that you can use all its services. The first and second day may seem to have a myriad of issues but in the third day it should work fine.
Useful Links
- Click here to apply for a Payoneer card and get a free $25
- Click here to access the NationHela website for more information
- Click here to access the ePay-Kenya website
Conclusion and Recommendation
All these options have their advantages and disadvantages. If I was to choose one as the overall best, then I would go for Payoneer without a doubt. This is because of their low fees, the card is free and you can get $25 for free when applying for it. ePay is great for emergencies where the benefits outweigh the costs due to their instant delivery. With the NationHela card, you can pay bills, send money to M-Pesa and use it to verify your PayPal account. Use the useful links above to apply for these options and you’ll have an easier time withdrawing money from PayPal in Kenya.
Glo-Money can help you withdraw from paypal in minutes.
Thanks Justus. I hope it works well. I always advise caution before guys try out new companies. Otherwise, all the best
Informative piece,excellent work man.I just stumbled on your blog following E-Pay’s suspension of Paypal transactions which left me looking for alternatives.And a better one I found with Payoneer.I just registered and can’t wait to start using it.
As noted,the major benefit with E-Pay is the short timespan required to receive funds.However,the fees charged are above the roof.If they opted to use economies of scale then I would definitely stick with them.But until then,I would rather jump ship.
Thanks again,more so for highlighting this in detail-loved the comparison more,keep up the great work.
A quick question,how long do I have to wait for the Payoneer card to land in my hand,is it a month?
Have a good one Walter!
Hey Peter,
Thanks for dropping by. Payoneer is great. As stated in the post, what people love the most about ePay is the fact that you get the cash instantly. You know what they say about a bird in hand….
Yes, you wait for approximately a month before getting the Payoneer card.
Cheers
Hi reedfanuel,
It should have arrived on the due date. Kindly send an email to Payoneer and notify them of the delay. I hope you gave them the right details and have checked your post office.
All the best
Hi Walter
How long does the payoneer mastercard take to reach your postal address? I mean, the approximate date for my card to reach was 24th sept and today is 8th oct yet i haven’t received it. Thanks.
NationHela is a flop product. 3g will not get verified by paypal and the whole promise of hela fails….apart form that it is nothing but a debit card, and there are many ..i rather use orange money as atleast it has some loyalty points. hela is a hellish way as users money is at stake and overall DTB is a strong bnak so money is safe, but we freelancers are not sorted …mr gitahi , you have some questions to answer
aaroan,
Those are some strong allegations there. Anyway, let’s wait and see how it goes with NationHela. Unfortunately there are many who think its PayPal loads are not coming back. But who knows, they may surprise us.
Thanks
Hi Walter, glad I found this link. I used to see you at iWriter before I was rudely blocked by them. Nway, I hear the name virtual bank account floating around when people talk about the payoneer card. What exactly is it and do I need to be part of sites such Elance to get the card. I write for an independent contractor and get paid by paypal, is that enough? or what else do I need?
Hi Muthoni,
Welcome to FreelancerKenya
Happy to have you here. I hope you have added your email address to follow blog via email so that you never miss a post. You can do this on the right sidebar.
To use iWriter don’t use a Safaricom modem. Everything else works.
The virtual account is called the US Payment Service by Payoneer. You don’t need to be part of Elance and stuff. As long as you are paid via PayPal, you can apply. Use the link in the article to apply for the card and you’ll be good.
Feel free to ask any more questions
I communicated with Payoneer about the charges and they officially confirmed that it is out. You can try that immediately. Just click on the link below and go to live chat. Ask them about those fees.
http://www.payoneer.com/contactUs.aspx
Thanks for the comment about the theme. I found it irresistible, just had to change.
The Fees and Prices page in my Payoneer account still reflects the $29 annual fee. Where did you get the information about the scraping the fees? Ama they are yet to reflect the changes? Nice theme, I like…
thanks big walter,i have registered fb,twitter and ua email updates…..i hope you will soon read from me.God bless you
Most welcome,
Looking forward to read from you soon.
another question walter.what is your advice on new freelancer like me.i mean what can you advice about writting articles ,.i intent to start this on a very serious note……
Gilbert,
It depends on what exactly you want to freelance.
For now, there are three great options to become an online writer. Don’t just use one, use them all.
1. Freelancer
2. Fiverr
3. iWriter
Below are some posts in my blog that can help you to get started.
http://freelancerkenya.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/where-to-start-as-a-kenyan-freelance-writer/
https://freelancerkenya.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/4-surefire-tips-for-securing-your-online-writing-business/
http://freelancerkenya.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/verified-sites-where-you-can-make-money-online-in-kenya-by-walter-akolo/
https://freelancerkenya.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/6-freelance-writing-tips-that-no-one-else-will-tell-you/
On the left hand sidebar, enter your email address and click on Follow Blog Via Email. I normally post useful articles on how to be successful as a Kenyan freelancer. I reply to most, if not all the comments below the articles so after reading you can feel free to ask any question.
Don’t forget to like my Facebook page and click on “Join My List” so that I can be sending you occasional but helpful emails.
another question walter.what is your advice on new freelancer like me.i mean what can you advice about writting articles ,.i intent to start this on a very serious note
walter,its very good to hear i can use my ordinary ATM card to activate my paypal account.that means i will be a freelancer within no time.by the way is kcb activation same as n-hela on paypal?
Most welcome Gilbert.
Activation is the same for all cards so yes. Go ahead and verify.
another thing,i have an ordinary kcb card.its branded with visa logo:can i use it to activate paypal account?
Yes Gilbert. You can use that one. Go to any KCB branch and ask them to grant the card online access first. Make sure you have around Sh. 200 in the account.
hallo,please brief me on how to activate nation hela card on paypal.i tried activating it,it cant verify my paypal account
Hi Gilbert. Thanks for the question.
After registering for PayPal, go to your PayPal account and check out the part for linking and verifying or something like that. Click on that part.
Check out the NationHela photo at the top of this blog post. When asked for the credit/debit card number, you’d use the number similar to that 4574 1234 5678 9010 that’s in that card. The CSV number is at the back.
After doing that (or in case you’d already done that when registering), they’ll withdraw $1.95 from your card and deposit into PayPal (so you need to have at least Sh. 200 on NationHela, this amount will vary depending on dollar rates). You’ll get a text message with a 4 digit code somewhere. Use that code on PayPal and you’re done.
All the best
Walter; how much do you need to get a kcb visa card for paypal verification; and how long do you have to wait for the card. I would also like to know if there is any other way of veryfying my paypal account within the shortest timw possible, can nationhela help in veryfying my account?
Kaz,
It depends on which KCB card you are looking for. I am not very sure of the charges.
Do you have any Visa branded card? Coop, Equity e.t.c. even the free ones can be used. Yes, even NationHela card can be used to verify.
I would suggest you use your normal Visa card from any bank or use NationHela. For the normal Visa cards, go to your bank (any branch) and ask them to give your card online access. It’s free!
All the best
Walter, thanks for this. My question is on Payoneer Card. How do I get the Payoneer card apart from filling in the details on the link you have provided? Once I get the card, from where do I withdraw? And what about this monthly charge they are talking of?
Patkay!
You are welcome! Apart from the link, you can go to the Payoneer website’s contact page and request for a card either via chat or email. They will send back an email giving you the details and asking you some questions. Respond to the questions via email and you’ll be good
Yes, they have monthly charges as above. They deduct that from the balance in your Payoneer account.
Feel free to ask any more questions.
Which numbers on a KCB visa card are used for verifying paypal?
Reedfanuel,
Check out this image on the link below
http://images-00.delcampe-static.net/img_large/auction/000/177/586/046_001.jpg
It is the number that starts with 4180 and ends with 6044. The CSV number should be at the back.
All the best
Thanks Walter, this site is very helpful to freelancers.
You are welcome reedfanuel! I am always happy to help
Eliud,
Payoneer have just confirmed to me that they have scrapped the annual fees! This is great news for freelancers! Thanks for letting me know.
Thanks for your informative article. It seems we’re heading places, as a country. The more options we get, the easier our lives get. Nationhela is definitely a great service and I hope they’ll iron out the small issues soon.
Just to correct you about Payoneer charges… The annual fees were scrapped and are no longer being levied. Their withdrawal fees charged at the ATM are $3.15 and not $2.15 as you stated. (I use it often, and this is what I am charged)
Keep up the good work, Walter. We need more Kenyans like you. It saddens me to hear the youth complain endlessly about lack of opportunities while there are so many avenues online.
Hi Eliud
Many thanks for your comment. It is true that the youth need to change their mindset from idling waiting for “support” to becoming their own entrepreneurs. On the other hand, I love the way people are getting out there and working for money. Nowadays anything pays in Kenya, be it dancing, singing, art, freelancing e.t.c.
Thanks for your input on Payoneer also. Let me confirm about the scraping of the annual fees. I will then will happily change the post to reflect that.
On the withdrawal fees, kindly log in to your Payoneer account through the link below:
https://myaccount.payoneer.com/Login/Login.aspx
Go to Account Information > View Transactions. Click on any withdrawal (it should be written in red). It will open a small dialog box with date, auth no. and terminal ID. Check the bottom of the box. If you withdrew 200 dollars, you’ll see “Amount to charge: $200 (Including fees of $2.15).
Alternatively, you can just check out the prices on this link:
https://payouts.payoneer.com/partners/Default/Fees.aspx?pid=BfLuk8%2bZovpa6njeNk1iMA%3d%3d&langid=1&bhjs=1&bhqs=1
Keep checking out FreelancerKenya and provide the much needed feedback. I want this site to be as useful and comprehensive as possible. Thanks again Eliud and I really appreciate your feedback.
Yesterday I used the NationHela service to withdraw from paypal and got a sweet surprise. I did the withdrawal at 10 AM and before 11 AM, I checked my balance and the money was already in the card. However,the confirmation SMS came in at 5 PM. I think the guys are still fixing some things and in future, we could witness instant withdrawals from paypal.
Writerguru,
Thanks man. It is great to know that they are doing their homework. Soon they’ll get it right.
Lets hope there is no underhand dealings with Nationhela which would be a surprise since they boast of more than 6 months of perfecting the service, as much as they have their fair share of teething problems. I never used Babawatoto because I wrote to them about withdrawing money from Kenya through a Kenyan Paypal account and they indicated they only deal with those in US if I remember correctly. For E-pay, it is the best system that was developed after serious and demoralizing attempts at getting Kenyans a sure way of withdrawing in Kenya from Paypal, MB and others that are not covered any more. I was around through all these heartaches and the current platform is the best that even Nationhela will never beat. You can talk to them for more details. Otherwise for 3G that Nationhela uses I only came to know about them once I withdrew the first time.
.
Since I want to test all 3 platforms, I have also reapplied for a Payoneer card and I’ll see how it goes. Over the years I have used so many ways of withdrawing from Paypal and I can tell you that soon Paypal will heed the call of Kenyans and allow us to withdraw through our bank accounts. I like talking to E-pay people since they are very down to earth and giving them my suggestions. I believe that if they could just find a way of lowering their withdrawal charges a little bit they would be the number one option in Kenya. It just feels good receiving money even when you are asleep via Mpesa
Thanks for your comment Benleem.
Yeah, if only ePay got some way to reduce their charges, they would get awesome results.
Thanks again for notifying us about NationHela.
Much appreciated
Hey,
I agree that NationHela is doing their best to improve their services. As Lilian said, I think new users should not use their cards within the three-day lag period after activating the card. Within the first two days, the card still has a lot of issues. About NationHela going down, well am optimistic because it’s a partnership between two giant organizations and a third-party gateway similar to the one EPay uses. These checkout accounts are legally available over the net so unless they have other underhand deals like babawatoto had, people should not be worried about their PayPal accounts.
The only downside is that the website a “watermelon” that has its fair share of surprises. This is acceptable though, since they launched the service just the other day. Anyway, happy freelancing and hope there are better advancements that we will enjoy in the weeks, months, or years to come…
Andrew,
Thanks for your comment.
I also believe that it should be safe to use. I hope they are done with their frequent changes.
Cheers
Lilian,
I have just spoken to Nationhela and they assure me that they still reimburse the Sh. 500. I’ll confirm about the 348 charges and either get back to you or edit the post.
Thanks
Hi, walter, it seems the reimbursement is not clear, i emailed them on sunday as i had never been refunded and the manager clarified it would be reimbursed,however on monday, i talked to a customer care who told me it was a closed promotion. later evening they reimbursed only 200shs so i dont understand their changes,but am optimistic i will get clarifications. As for the 348 charges, i got deducted almost 15shs when activating. And a further 10shs when attempting to check my balance on phone. For safaricom lines its just better to check on your account online.
I also noted where the confusion comes.if the staff at DTB do not feed your registration details in good time and you partially activate your account via phone before the 72hrs,your account reads active but it is actually not yet ready.So when you attempt to transact you get loads of issues.and this is where most panic thinking it must be fake but it is not.
I hope they resolve the changing issues and i hope it all works out well!
Lilian,
Thanks for your comment. Just verified that they actually do charge more than 5 for checking. As for the reimbursement, I guess it will clear out soon.
All the best as always
hi,
This is very informative and precise. Nation hela services do work, however the daily changes are confusing many, i believe with time it will improve.So far from my personal experience, new changes are, the 500shs bonus is no longer being reimbursed. Apparently it was only an introductory promotional offer. I also noticed that when i use the phone prompt of 348 i get deducted more than 5shs. Actually i got deducted for every subsequent action once i dialled 348. They changed their exchange rate to 82.25 from 81.06,generally i applaud their services.Instead of people complaining they should be sending the customer care suggestions for improvements so that it can work for the benefit of all.
Wow! Thanks Lilian for your comments. I’ll adjust the post accordingly so that it can fit the current situation. Thanks again for your input
Great work Walter. Thank you for the informative blog.
Thanks writermsa as always.
Great piece of review Walter. As you said, ‘let others make noise and you make money’. I have used the card for a week now and I must say 9it is great. The only thing that I do not like about them is that they keep changing their website from time to time. Otherwise,it is a great service. @ STV,I remember what happened with Babawatoto. But epay also operates the same way. There also was this company known as safarinetservices.com. It also went under and has never come back again after paypal cracked their whip. Lets just hope that everything will go fine.
writerguru,
Thanks a lot for your comment and the update on the failed service. I agree that NationHela need to settle in terms of their website. For example, their charges have changed in just one week, especially for withdrawing less than 50 dollars which was free.
NationHela and ePay seem to have done their homework well so I don’t think they’ll go down like the other underground sites. ePay has in fact been around for over three years. As of now, I don’t see any serious cause for alarm.
Walter thnks for the great blg; really liked the concise comparison between the 3, anywayDnt wnt 2 sound pessimistic but; thrs an issue i came across on a different blog post. Apparently nation hela are purchasing funds directly from paypal and their operation is somehow similar to babawatoto.com; for those who have been online for some time, you might know ths site. Babawatoto went down big time and individuals who had any dealings with babawatoto had their paypal accounts limited; in retrospect the nation group is a high calibre company,lets jst hope that nationhela have used the correct channels with the paypal issue or there could be some serious casualties- me included
Thanks STV for your comment. As usual, I always advise people to use Payoneer as much as possible since you end up having a legit, US account and your PayPal can never be compromised. ePay and NationHela have been doing a great job and I hope there are no shady dealings that will cost us our PayPal accounts.
Cool work buddy. This is what we need. Keep up in boosting freelancing in Kenya.
Thanks a lot Reedfanuel for your comment. I totally appreciate. Kenya is slowly going to the place it’s supposed to be in terms of freelancing.