How to Withdraw Money From PayPal to M-Pesa

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There was a time when it was extremely difficult to make PayPal to M-Pesa transfers. However, PayPal surprisingly partnered with Safaricom in 2018. This made it easy for Kenyans to get money from PayPal to M-Pesa superfast.

Question: Can You Withdraw Money Directly from PayPal to MPESA through a Kenyan Platform?

Yes, this is now possible!

It wasn’t possible to do this for a long time till 9th April, 2018 when the big partnership happened. It’s now official that Kenyans can directly receive their PayPal cash to their M-Pesa accounts. It takes a few minutes to 3 days to receive money on M-Pesa once you’ve withdrawn, depending on the amount you’re withdrawing.

You can literally withdraw $200 and get the cash on your M-PESA in 5 minutes or less. Sometimes it may take a little longer, but it mostly works in minutes.

Here’s an official video from PayPal that shows you how to do all this:

Another great service that you can use to withdraw from PayPal is the Equity Bank PayPal Withdrawal Service.

So Do PayPal to M-Pesa Agents Still Exist?

Yes, they’re still there.

However, as seen above, there’s now an official partnership between PayPal and Safaricom.

It can work in minutes depending on the amount you’re withdrawing. Therefore, you may not need to use other services.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a PayPal to M-Pesa Agent

Once again, this has been majorly negated by the partnership we’ve talked about here. However, there are people who still have issues using the official channel and would want to use PayPal to M-Pesa agents (people who exchange PayPal money for M-Pesa in minutes).

If you’re in this situation, you’ve probably seen things like these:

“With our service, you get your cash on M-Pesa within 5 minutes”.

“We exchange your Paypal cash instantly”.

Sounds familiar? I know.

But who should you trust?

Here are things to consider before using anything apart from the official channel.

The safety of your PayPal account – Some great services do not involve sending money directly to a personal PayPal account. Others involve sending cash to a trusted person’s PayPal account then they send you the equivalent. Withdrawing PayPal money in Kenya through suspicious guys may still work but soon your personal account may be limited, especially if the person gets in trouble with PayPal for whatever reason.
The speed of delivery – How fast do you get your cash? Most service providers will serve you in 10-30 minutes. The official channel takes you just a few minutes. But if you’re having issues with that channel, you may get an agent who can also deliver fast.
Quality of support – How is the support team? How do they respond to your queries?
Exchange rate – How much money will you get at the end of the day?

Some quick ratings of the official PayPal withdrawal method

Why should you opt for the official method? Let’s look at the pros:

Safety of your account 5/5

This is an official service that’s offered by PayPal, Safaricom’s M-Pesa and Thunes, therefore your account is 100% protected.

Speed of delivery 5/5

You mostly get the cash in minutes, which is amazing!

Quality of support 5/5

PayPal and Safaricom are known for excellent support. Ah, okay, not always, but they try. They got you covered 🙂

Exchange rate 5/5

The biggest asset here is the rate! Using this method gives you the highest possible exchange rate. At the time of updating this post, it’s even faster than Equity’s withdrawal method.

Other services

I had a whole list here when I first wrote this article. I decided not to update this with other services since they seem to come and go real quick. And the official method works fine for most people.

You can always do a quick Google search to see which the latest PayPal to M-Pesa service is. However, to be safe, make sure you check out their reviews to ensure they are not scammers.

What if you can’t use the official PayPal to M-Pesa platform? No sweat. You can use the Equity Bank method instead.

Note that PayPal is not the best method to transact online. There are awesome PayPal alternatives out there like Payoneer, Wise (formerly TransferWise), Paxful, and Skrill.

Conclusion

It’s great that freelancers can now officially withdraw from PayPal to MPESA using an arrangement that is directly endorsed by both PayPal and Safaricom.

In case the official method doesn’t work for you, you can always use Equity’s service and still get your cash from PayPal in one business day.

Equity is also 100% endorsed by PayPal so your safety is guaranteed at all times.

Note that PayPal to M-Pesa is still way cheaper than PayPal to Equity.

Of course, that’s limited by Safaricom’s daily transaction limits.

Those transacting more than Safaricom’s daily limit will have to transact in a couple of days. So if you’re withdrawing $5,000, it may be more practical to just use Equity.

What’s your experience with this method?