(image credit: https://epay-kenya.com)
Update: 22nd Jan 2013, ePay has reinstated PayPal withdrawals by invitation
Do you use ePay-Kenya to withdraw money from PayPal? If you don’t, you should. If you are already using it, good. Either way, you need to read this.
Today, ePay has officially made an announcement about this temporary suspension. This is attributed to doubling of their rolling reserve fee due to the “exponential growth” in ePay’s business volume.
Credible Company for Withdrawing Money From PayPal
ePay-Kenya is currently the most credible Kenyan company when it comes to withdrawing money from PayPal. I must admit that I love their services. These guys are simply awesome when it comes to helping people process online payments. They have an excellent support team which surpasses international standards. They also make sure that you get your PayPal cash within 30 minutes or much less. No other company has ever managed to do this.
All ePay-Kenya users got an email this morning (date above) with information about this suspension. I still highly recommend ePay-Kenya for all their services and believe in the fact that this is just a temporary measure that will be cleared out soon.
All in all, this is sad news indeed to Kenyan freelancers who solely rely on ePay-Kenya to withdraw money from PayPal.Once again, I strongly believe they’ll bounce back soon but before they do that, below are some credible alternatives.
Withdrawing from Moneybookers Using ePay-Kenya
The Moneybookers (Skrill) option is still functional and it is even cheaper than PayPal (8% plus 1.5 USD as opposed to PayPal’s 8.5% plus 1.5). Moneybookers withdrawals are usually processed much faster than PayPal transactions.
Way Forward
1. Use Alternative Payment Processors
Most freelancing websites have multiple payment options. These may include PayPal, Skrill and Payoneer Cards among other options.
My recommendation is you don’t use PayPal as your recommended option but opt for the rest for now. You may not get your money as fast as you would on ePay, but you will get your cash.
2. Send to a Friend
It is my hope that by now you have developed networks in the freelancing field.
Therefore, if you have a friend who has a Payoneer Card or uses any other way to withdraw money from PayPal, you can simply contact them and ask them to withdraw for you.
This also applies to friends and relatives in the diaspora. You can get them through Facebook or whichever other way and ask them to create a PayPal account that they can be using to withdraw for you whenever such a problem arises. They can then send you the cash via Western Union, MoneyGram or NationHela.
You can also feel free to ask for my help. Simply send me an email at walter@freelancerkenya.com and request me to withdraw for you. I will use my Payoneer option which will take 3 business days to process. Note that I will charge you 10% of your total amount for this service. We can discuss more on email for those who are interested.
3. Register a Payoneer Account
After reading this PayPal post, I believe that everyone has signed up for a Payoneer account. In case you haven’t, it is high time to sign up. If you use this link, both you and I will get $25 for free when your account reaches $100. So far, many followers of FreelancerKenya have already received their commissions from Payoneer. Note that immediately your Payoneer application is approved, you need to register for the US Payment service through this link. Do that even before you receive the card. It is the US Payment Service that will help you to withdraw money from PayPal to your Payoneer card.
4. Liberty Reserve
I do not recommend this option at all. There are some guys who have used this site successfully but some have been scammed. I will therefore not put any more detail about them so that I don’t recommend you to the wrong guys.
As stated above, while you wait for your Payoneer card, I can help you process the cash. You can send me an email at the address above for more details if you’re interested.
Final Thoughts
Personally, I fully trust that things will be back to normal at ePay very soon. Before then, you can try out the above methods. I do hope that Kenya will put out the necessary legislation that will allow us to process PayPal transactions as easily as we do from Payoneer and MoneyBookers.
I have always recommended all readers to sign up to ePay-Kenya and Payoneer immediately they think of freelancing so that they can always use either method when one does not work out or experiences a temporary problem.This is as far as PayPal withdrawals are concerned since there are 100s of other payment processors.
I personally prefer these two over sending to a friend because they are highly secure systems that will guarantee you receipt of your money in the prescribed time.
As for a friend, they may lose the cash, get sick or just get bored of going to their accounts to withdraw for you all the time. If you are like me and you trust systems more than people, simply sign up for these two using the links below as we wait to see how things go in the Kenyan scene as far as PayPal withdrawals are concerned. Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below this post.
Click here to sign up to PayoneerÂ
Click here to register for the US Payment Service
Click here to sign up to ePay-Kenya
How credible is crowdsource Kenya. They argue they can do the withdrawal in 5 minutes.
Hi Pato,
Thanks for your comment.
I have not tested their services yet so I am not sure.
Thanks
Hi Sir Walter,
I have a small question. When a client wants to pay me through PayPal and they ask me for payment details what details do give them.
Thanks for doing the hard work for me.
Hi Dennis,
You give them the email address you use with PayPal.
Thanks
Glo-money is the fastest among. It was the second after epay. as at now, it’s the leading. They have good services and faster than others.
Hi Justus,
Thanks for the update on Glo-Money.
I may test it later to ascertain that.
Thanks
Hi good people,
Here is the latest.
I have personally tried out PesaGram and KenyaPesa. They both actually work.
With PesaGram, you’ll get the cash in a few minutes while KenyaPesa will take a couple of hours.
PesaGram is much cheaper.
Anyone tried out Glo-Money?
All the best 🙂
I have joined the discussion past half way but am also affected by the epay decision to suspend paypal payment , was just getting to work freelance and get payment swiftly, I concur with Walter and the rest of you these guys offered excellent service though a bit dear. Just one question if I have the payoneer card, can I transfer funds from paypal? What are the requirements?
Hi Edgar,
Thanks for your comment.
Yes, with the Payoneer card you can transfer funds from PayPal.
The requirement is for you to have the US Payment Service. Read all about it in the post below:
https://freelancerkenya.com/going-about-paypal/how-to-withdraw-money-from-paypal-in-kenya/
Let me know how it goes.
Thank you
Hello Walter. You are doing an excellent job. I had a small problem, though; through your link, I applied for a Payoneer card last year. I was told that it would arrive between 10th and 17th January 2013. I haven’t seen it yet. Could there be a problem? I had given them my physical address, that is, my estate, house number and road, rather than a P.O box number; could that be an issue? Thanks in advance.
Hi Samuel,
Yes, that’s the issue. You need to give them the P.O Box together with the other details and ask them to send via P.O Box.
Urgently contact them either via live chat or email via their support link below:
http://www.payoneer.com/contactUs.aspx
All the best 🙂
Thanks Walter. You saved me. I contacted Payoneer, and they responded promptly. I had eben applied for another card, but they told mw it was not necessary. I gave them a P.O. box address, and the caed will be arriving at some time in February.
You are most welcome Samuel.
They are actually very efficient so you should get it at the specified time.
All the best 🙂
Another question; you said that epay are back. They had an option that allowed people to wire money to Chase Bank account. Is that option still available? It would be great for withdrawing a lot of cash. Again, thanks in advance, and have a great day.
Hi Samuel,
Thanks for your comment.
I believe that option should still be available or coming soon. You can confirm that with the ePay-Kenya staff via their support link below:
https://epay-kenya.com/contact.htm
Thanks and all the best 🙂
Hi everyone, This is to inform you that Walter is the man to beat in The freelance game in Kenya. Why do I say so? This dude has been quite helpful to me, and he is willing to go an extra mile to help you too. I had a problem withdrawing from paypal due to e-paykenya issues, so I contacted him if he could lend a hand. And for sure, I received my money this Tuesday morning :-). He is extraordinarily sincere-I think saved or something. This is not a sales pitch but just telling the truth about Him. I think Walter that was Great. I’m going to contact you again soon. Thanks. Keep it up.
Thanks a lot Benjamin,
It has always been an honor helping you out.
I am extremely humbled by your kind words.
Always feel free to ask for any help.
Thanks again 🙂
I agree with you Benjamin, walter offers such unrivaled and great help on freelancing in Kenya. I am so proud to have come across his work. And am amazed that he offers help with paypal withdrawals, how about depositing to paypal? Walter please let me know if you offer both paypal deposits and withdrawals. Thanks for the prompt response to my many queries, please let me know how i can load cash to my payoneer card.
Hi Josephine.
Thank you very much for your comment. You guys are far too kind. As stated, I will continue doing my best to make sure Kenyan freelancers succeed.
Kindly read the article below to see how easy it is to deposit money to PayPal.
https://freelancerkenya.com/going-about-paypal/how-to-deposit-money-to-paypal/
Let me know if that works. If not, feel free to ask for more help.
I can still personally help you to deposit. You can send me an email at walter@freelancerkenya.com for more on that.
There are two ways to load your Payoneer card:
1. If you are in sites like Freelancer, Elance or Fiverr, go to withdraw and then choose the Payoneer card as the preferred option.
2. Loading from PayPal will require you to have the US Payment Service account. Apply for it and once approved you’ll be given the loading instructions.
I hope this helps but if not feel free to ask for more details.
Thanks 🙂
Hi Walter, my question is similar to Josephine’s. I just got my payoneer card and i’m a bit confused on this whole MasterCard issue. The above ATMs that you listed, do they need to be MasterCard branded or are the kawaida Visa ATMs good to go? I’m guessing any PesaPoint will do….
Thanks!
Hi Eva,
Thanks for your question.
They have to be MasterCard branded (the ones on the list are).
As of now, some Equity ATMs have the MasterCard brand but those won’t work, they’ll give you some fake error.
You can also pay for stuff on any till that has a MasterCard brand (in supermarkets, restuarants e.t.c).
More on the Payoneer card can be found in my “Payoneer benefits” article. The link is above on Josephine’s comment.
I hope that helps. Feel free to ask any more questions.
Thanks
Thanks Walter for the information, am always glad to hear from you via email. I have a payoneer card but i have not started using it. Please help me know which ATMs accepts this master card in Kenya, co-op told me they do not accept. Can i load money to my payoneer card through money gram? Thanks
Hi Josphine,
Thanks for your comment.
ATMs that currently accept MasterCard are CfC, Barclays, PesaPoint and KCB.
You cannot load Payoneer from MoneyGram.
Click here to check out my other article on Payoneer to see some of the companies that accept Payoneer.
If you have the US Payment Service, Payoneer should have sent you an email with the list of companies that they accept.
Feel free to ask any more questions 🙂
Ok.
So that makes two for Pesa-Gram and one for KenyaPesa.
Thanks a lot for the heads up Kasuku. I always try to help wherever I can. Payoneer is generally cheaper than ePay as reviewed in my article on the link below. The only difference is the three days it takes.
https://freelancerkenya.com/going-about-paypal/how-to-withdraw-money-from-paypal-in-kenya/
In case anyone else needs my help, feel free to send me an email.
@James Sending to someone may actually be trickier. It can work even for months but the problem is when PayPal suspects fraud from the guy, all the accounts that deal with the guy will be suspended pending investigation (this will rarely happen).
Additionally, when they get to volumes of $200,000 or 200 transactions (whichever comes first), PayPal will start charging them tax in case they use US accounts. Otherwise, I’m happy to hear that they work.
The reasons I have mentioned above are some of the reasons why the new companies come and go. ePay has been there for over three years, delivering awesome results. I personally trust them 100%.
As stated above, let’s always be cautious. I wish the best for the sites that work though :)! …and it’s good that you guys have come back to say they work (for those who need cash urgently).
The Payoneer card takes a month to come as seen in my article (link above). Meanwhile you can either wait or make a decision on whether to use the other sites or ask for my help. The good thing with Payoneer is you can use the card for multiple things, it is cheaper and will never be limited since you get a legal Virtual US bank account.
I’ll do a post soon about benefits of Payoneer(other than the PayPal thing) so that you can understand what I’m saying.
In case you get other sites that work, feel free to leave a comment here. In case they don’t work, also do the same so that I can alert everyone.
Remember to follow blog via email so that you never miss a post.
Cheers 🙂
P.S. Click here for more on Payoneer. Click here for the stats of ePay, Payoneer and NationHela.
Actually yesterday I withdrew paypal using Pesagram and according to my experience, they are slightly cheaper than E-pay and their customer support doesn’t suck. I got my M-Pesa within one hour after withdrawing.
For the curious, the process doesn’t involve buying of ‘fake products’ like in E-Pay. Simply send the money to some jamaa and forward the receipt from Paypal to PesaGram then wait for your cash.
I, however, don’t recommend the site to anyone. Maybe I was just lucky to escape their scam–but I am not saying they are scammers. All I am saying is that i cannot give a full recommendation since I have tried them only once.
And Walter, i did contact Payoneer and they told me to wait until end month. So my Paypal will have to accumulate until then.
regards.
James,
Good to hear you have applied.
Remember to also apply for the US Payment service immediately. That’s the one that will help you withdraw from PayPal.
Tell me how it goes.
Thanks for everything 🙂
Walter
I also withdrew money from Paypal via Pesagram, and I can confirm they are fast; I got my money in less than an hour. Their fees are also low. They seem to be using the same method as Kenyapesa; money goes to a personal Payoal account. I think the best option is to use Payoneer.
Hi Samuel,
Indeed PesaGram is fast and money does get sent to an individual account.
Payoneer is great since you actually withdraw from PayPal. The only challenge is the 3 day waiting period that many can’t afford to wait.
Thanks
Thanks
I dont know about Kenyapesa but what i do know is that i made a smooth and easy withdrawal from my paypal A/c via Walter. His rates are cheaper than Epay all you have to do is wait for 3 days.From my personal experience, Walter is totally trustworthy. Till i receive my payoneer card, Walter will be my Preferred choice.
Be careful about the others. kenyapesa works though. I personally have tried them and you can send money as low as 10 dollars. Try with a small amount first and you’ll see. Be careful though, there are lots of scammers out there.
Thanks Nimu for the heads up on Kenyapesa. I have seen you send cash directly to a personal PayPal address. The problem is if there is fraud in a ring of payments, PayPal will limit or suspend all accounts pending investigation.
Good to hear that they work though. Two are now confirmed by readers – pesa-gram and kenyapesa. Caution should always be observed. I have not personally tested them therefore I can’t say I recommend them yet.
Personally, when any of them gets a mark of approval from me, I will do a full blog post about it.
@ James I am fine with your recommendations in fact I have taken action at least. My job got six views within 24 hours after registration. I am learning how to get traffic my fiverr gigs. Thanks a lot for your refferal
@ How could I have got viewed at mycheapjobs without your website. I am here every breakfast. Thanks.
Hi, I think this is incredible information. Have you verified any info about the alternative methods of withdrawing from paypal mentioned above. Thanks.
Hi Benjamin,
You are most welcome.
So far there are four suggestions – crowdsourcekenya, kenyapesa, glo-money and a friend of mine told me about pesa-gram.
I have not personally verified nor am I recommending any of them. Like I’ve stated above, there are so many scams in the withdrawal field; therefore be extremely cautious who you send your money to.
All the best 🙂
same to me, my first stop was freelancer kenya, coz this is the only place i get reliable info on kenyan online stuff….thanks man
Thanks Peter Kanai,
I am glad you made this your first stop. Make sure you follow the blog via email so that you get instant emails whenever I do a new post. Incredible stuff coming up in 2012.
Thanks again.
Hey Walter, Funny, I came straight here once i realised epay wasn’t working, and sure as hell you had all the up to date infor.Thank you for this article. I hope epay resolves the issue soonest possible.
Kasuku,
Thanks a lot for coming back to FreelancerKenya. Yeah, I always try to make it a valuable resource by offering what Kenyans need. Kindly follow the blog via email (sidebar) and you’ll get my posts as soon as I roll them out!
Reliable information states that ePay will sort it out real soon.
Thanks.
Hi walter,
I know that paypal are very strict when it comes to using third party sites that aren’t supported. But a little “googling” produced two kenyan sites, apart from e-pay kenya, that offer paypal withdrawal in kenya. One is called glo-money and the one is kenyapesa. Have you heard about them?
I also heard that NationHela were offering the service (paypal withdrawing) but they were too cracked down.
Anyway, I applied for a payoneer though it’s taking too long to alive! How long does it take?
Hi James,
Thanks for your comment once again.
I would like to warn you to be a little bit cautious on who you send your money to. In 2012 only, there were more than 5 scam sites that claimed to withdraw money from PayPal. These included eazy-pay and a couple of its clones.
NationHela was dubious from the word go. You can check out my post about them on the link below:
https://freelancerkenya.com/withdrawal-methods/nationhela-review-is-this-the-paypal-withdrawal-method-kenyans-have-been-looking-for/
You did great to apply for Payoneer. It will take roughly a month to process.
Feel free to ask any questions and be sure to follow this blog via email (check sidebar) so that you never miss a post!
I used crowdsource kenya to withdraw paypal ( $50)money last week, I think they arereliable and slightly cheaper than epay
doug
Hi,
Thanks for your comment.
Are they really reliable? I have my questions and doubts. I don’t want anyone scammed so guys need to be careful when following recommendations from comments.
Thanks though and I really hope they’re worth it.
Hi Dennis,
In addition to fiverr, you can also put your services at mycheapjobs and seoclerks. These sites allow you to fix your price, unlike fiverr where the fixed price is 5$. In mycheapjobs, for instance, I charge 10$ for a 400 word article. And so far it’s has been going well.
Though I must admit that I started with 5$ but after getting 10 orders and maintaining a 100% rating, I raised the charges. I am also looking forward to doing the same at seoclerks but currently I charge 6$.
These two sites, however, have low traffic compared to Fiverr. Additionally, the popularity of fiverr is very high. But this should not deter you from going to this sites, I have had success with mycheapjobs in particular. In fact, most of my orders this week came (and are coming) from mycheapjobs.
Be warned never to negotiate outside the sites with the buyers. A friend of mine was recently conned 300$ after she agreed to work outside Elance. Ever heard of Elance? It’s a freelancing site just like oDesk but the payments are usually very low. As low as 1$ per 400 words–which is time wasting. Additionally, the idea of bidding pisses me off.
Anyway, let me end this sub-blog by apologising to Walter for writing such a lengthy comment. Nonetheless, I hope Dennis will benefit from this information.
Regards,
James.
James,
Thanks for the additions. No problem at all about the long comment, as long as it solves a problem it is welcome.
I agree about people being careful about working outside the systems, you can either get a huge profit or fail miserably. in short, it is very risky.
In case anyone is ever tempted to work outside, I always recommend the pay-before method where clients pay half or full amount before you start working.
I hope it has helped Dennis though.
It;s not the end of the world guys. Kenyapesa,com offers the same services that epay kenya did. They don’t use a middleman like epay Kenya so the a paypal dispute is low. Try it, I have
Hi Nimu,
Thanks for your advise. As of now I cannot really verify the reliability of KenyaPesa. Once I do, I’ll definitely let the whole world know.
My advise is for guys to be careful.
Thanks
Dennis,
Have fun. Fiverr is awesome.
Sorry I didn’t answer one of your questions above. Yes, you need to scan both sides of your ID for applications to most payment processors.
Cheers!
thanks james and walter I spent the next 6 hours on fiverr immediately I read your comments. Once again how could i have signed up for fiverr without asking anything here.For james i feel encouraged.For walter you are my master. I am on fiverr and have created two gigs hopes 7 days from the first day will be having work to do online. Never hesitate to open my eyes online.
Thanks
Great to hear that. All the best Dennis.
Mr. Walter how can someone withdraw from liberty Reserve the accumulated dollars my email is Ptaahm@yahoo.com
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your comment. I don’t know anything about withdrawing from Liberty Reserve. I just know you need to be careful who you choose to exchange your cash with.
You can check it out and let us know.
Cheers 🙂
@ Dennis why not try fiverr? I am a medical student and I earn writing health-related articles for 5$–though i get only 4$ as fiverr deducts 1 $.
Fiverr is great for all sorts of things. Thanks James. I hope that sorts out Dennis.
Thanks Walter. I appreciate you are doing the hard work for me.How could I have known that there is ethical issues involved in academic freelancing without you.I need to pull up my socks then and work towards a reputable company.
Once again thanks a lot.
Once again Walter Am up to date. I am specifically signing up for payoneer next week I have not been having my nation id card with me but next week will be in my hand. Now when we scan our ids for this applications do we scan both tail and head in one page?
Once a gain I am requesting you with your due experience to send me or recommend me SPECIFICALLY academic freelance companies. This is because I am in the medical profession and do not think I will be able to take just any writings in Freelancer.com advice apropriately.
Thanks you.
Hi Dennis,
That’s great. You can sign up and remember to also sign up for the US Payment service so that you can be getting your PayPal cash via Payoneer.
I personally do not recommend guys to academic writing sites for ethical reasons. This is a personal thing so you can go ahead and google for the best out there. Make sure you check for reviews before attempting anything.
All the best.