PayPal Nigeria: Opening & Operating a PayPal Account

Established in 1998 as Confinity, PayPal is the leading global payment system and is now available to residents of Nigeria. It is available in over 200 countries and territories around the world in 23 currencies.

What is PayPal?

PayPal is the online wallet service of an American financial institution registered in the United States and several countries. The company is also registered in other countries including Canada, Luxemburg, Singapore, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

It serves a global marketplace and is by far the biggest internet wallet service.

The service opened up to dozens of countries in the year 2014. It became officially available to residents of Nigeria in July 2014. Before then, only Nigerian residents in countries supported could open and operate an account.

How can I open a PayPal account in Nigeria?

Opening an account in Nigeria is simple and straightforward. You simply need to visit their official website.

Requirements for Opening an Account in Nigeria

• You need a valid email address. This is the primary requirement. PayPal would attempt to validate the email address by sending a message. You would need to confirm the existence of the email address by following the steps in the message they send.
• You would also need a Visa or Mastercard linked to a Nigerian bank account. This could be a credit or debit card. This is necessary for verifying your PayPal account. The service would debit a tiny amount from the card and once you confirm the transaction, the account would be fully Verified.
• As of December 2018, Interswitch’s Verve card does not work with the service.

Can I receive funds through PayPal in Nigeria?

Yes. You can receive funds via PayPal in Nigeria, for your business.

FlutterWave

A partnership between FlutterWave and PayPal made it possible for merchants who accept payments via Rave to be able to enable the PayPal option from their merchant dashboard.

To enable your account for PayPal payments, FlutterWave would be sending the following information about your business to PayPal, with your express consent.

• Business name
• Country
• Date of Incorporation
• Website
• Business Category
• Full Name
• Date of Birth
• Residential Adress

Directly with PayPal

Currently, personal accounts do not support receiving money in Nigeria. You can only open Personal Accounts and send money online from the same. You can also make payment to millions of merchants around the world that accept payment via Paypal.

Every payment you make would be charged from the Debit or Credit Card you have linked to the account.

All transactions are currently denominated in United States Dollars (USD). Naira, the official currency of Nigeria, is currently not supported.

As of December 2018, Business Accounts are now available to e-commerce merchants in Nigeria. However, you can only receive money through a website cart, not directly from another user.

How can I receive PayPal funds in Nigeria?

Your need to receive money presumes you have goods or services to sell to the public. Having a website is necessary for doing serious business online. You need a website to be able to receive money through PayPal in Nigeria. The error in the screenshot above would be displayed if you attempt to send funds directly to a Nigerian PayPal Business account directly.

One option is to buy Web Hosting from HOSTAFRICA. From the hosting control panel, you can install any of the available e-commerce shopping carts. They include AbanteCart, PrestaShop, OpenCart, CubeCart, osCommerce, Open eShop, Zen Cart, Loaded Commerce, Magento, X-Cart, Avactis, Quick.Cart, Invoice Ninja, SimpleInvoices etc. Their features and capabilities vary. Virtually all of them support PayPal. The specific guides for configuring the account into the shopping cart would vary per each system and is beyond the scope of this article. You would need to consult the support channels of whichever you choose to install for a more comprehensive guide for setup and management.

Where can I use it in Nigeria?

HOSTAFRICA is a leading Web Hosting provider and accredited Domain Registrar. The company accepts PayPal for Domain Registration, Web Hosting, Virtual Servers, Dedicated Servers and every other service it offers.

Millions of other global merchants are happy to accept payment via PayPal. These include:

• airlines like Kenya Airways, Ethiopia Airways, SouthWest, South African Airlines;
• music streaming services like Spotify;
• video streaming services like Hulu, Roku;
• online gaming platforms like Sony PlayStation Network, Steam;
• global shopping platforms like eBay, Best Buy;

Limitations of PayPal Nigeria Accounts

PayPal is an American service. The very best experience with this payment system is available to residents of the USA. No other country enjoys the depth and richness of features offered in the US. It feels like Nigeria is on the other end of the spectrum. Thus, I would be sharing the features available in the USA that are not available to Nigeria, to illustrate the limitations experienced by users in Nigeria.

• PayPal Credit: subject to credit approval, American users can make use of a digital credit line to make purchases online exceeding $99 and repay in instalments.
• Card issuance: PayPal issues Cashback Mastercard (2% cash back everywhere the card is accepted), Extras Mastercard (cardholders can earn points on every spend), Cash Mastercard (a debit/ATM card linked directly to the PayPal wallet), and PrePaid Mastercard (for funds transfer from the wallet to the card) to residents of the USA.
• Near Instant Bank withdrawal: this new feature allows USA users to withdraw to their eligible debit card or bank account almost instantly, albeit for a premium fee. Regular withdrawals are free of charge and reflect the next working day.
• Fees: US-based merchants enjoy some of the lowest transaction fees for accepting payment over this platform. Sales within the USA can be as low as 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
• PayPal Here card reader: US-based merchants also have the luxury of a card reader that enables them to accept payments physically from major card schemes.

FAQ

• Is PayPal banned in Nigeria?
  Not any more. The service was not available to residents of Nigeria until 2015 but is now available to a large extent.
• Can I use PayPal to receive money in Nigeria?
  Yes. Business Accounts can receive money in Nigeria.
• How do I make my PayPal account valid in Nigeria?
  To verify your account, you need to:
  

   

  • confirm your email address by clicking on the link sent to your email
  • add your valid Visa or Mastercard and confirm the code in the transaction