PayPal customers to wait longer as 3-day pay pact with Equity Bank yet to take effect

Equity Bank is yet to effect changes announced late last year that would see PayPal customers withdraw their cash through the lender in three days.

Customers using PayPal to receive international payments say it still takes up to 10 days for money transferred from PayPal accounts to reflect on their Equity Bank accounts.

The bank and PayPal officials did not respond to our queries on the delay by the time of going to press.

PayPal users are mainly merchants on eBay or freelancers taking online contracts on job websites across the world. In November, Equity announced that it had signed an agreement to enable customers to receive their cash through PayPal accounts in three days from the earlier transaction period of eight days.

“We have worked closely with Equity Bank to make a few changes towards a faster and simpler withdrawal service for you. The outcome is that now the money you withdraw from your PayPal account will reach your Equity Bank account in just three business days instead of eight,” read a statement sent to PayPal customers in Kenya in November.

Equity Bank inked the first deal with PayPal in late 2013 as the lender sought to grow revenues from the increased local uptake of electronic commerce.

The partnership with the payments services arm of eBay then allowed traders in Kenya to buy and sell products and services at the online marketplace and receive payments through their bank accounts linked to PayPal. Over time.

Paypal services at Equity have grown to include withdrawal services where any local users can withdraw money paid into their PayPal accounts.

It has a transaction limit of Sh1 million ($10,000).

Equity seeks to exploit PayPal’s global reach to tap into its customer base of more than 188 million users based in over 193 markets around the world.