Equity Bank Kenya has partnered with online payment service, Paypal to allow customers to withdraw funds from their PayPal account within three business days reducing it from the previous eight business days. In the partnership, Equity customers will also be able to use their Equitel lines to check if PayPal funds have hit their bank accounts.
“As a small business owner, swift access to money is essential for the growth of my company. I need funds to pay vendors and employees, as well as pay capital costs. With this new service, I can get my money quicker than ever before.” said Brian Sechelo, a local merchant using Equity Bank and PayPal services.
Equity Bank hopes the enhancement of the service will help to nurture the immense opportunities for cross border commerce offered to Kenyan merchants who trade online. Both companies said they are committed to making Kenya a key player in the global digital marketplace.
“PayPal is focused on making e-commerce safer and easier to use throughout Africa. Kenya has always been a priority market for us, and we are working to ensure that our services are convenient for all our customers,” said Efi Dahan, General Manager, Israel and Africa for PayPal. “By streamlining this process, merchants have even more reason to use PayPal to sell their goods and services,” he added.
Equity Bank’s Chief Finance Officer, Innovation and Payments, John Staley, noted that the bank is committed to harnessing technology and strategic partnerships in ensuring that customers continue to enjoy the freedom of modern banking. Equity is seeking to exploit PayPal’s global reach to tap into its customer base of more than 188 million active customer accounts based in over 200 markets around the world.
According to the recently released Communications Authority of Kenya report, Kenya is a market poised for immense e-commerce growth over the next five years. Recent figures show that the country has witnessed positive growth in data Internet subscriptions by 3.8 per cent to reach 24.8 million subscriptions. Kenyan merchants who use PayPal are able to sell their products globally, while enjoying a more secure payment platform that is trusted throughout the world.
