Payoneer in Kenya mostly competes with PayPal. They are electronic payment providers. If you have Payoneer or PayPal, you can send and receive money from other countries abroad. They are part of the many online payment service providers operating internationally, with penetration into Africa, and particularly Kenya.
Pros
(a) $25 Bonus after Signing Up
Perhaps the $25 bonus that Payoneer offers to its customers is the most preferred fact about Payoneer in Kenya. Their bonus policy states that you need to transact about $1,000 to get the bonus. If you are anywhere in the world, you can receive the bonus after signing up. Therefore, anyone can use the contents of this article.
Follow the following steps to join the program:
- Click here to sign up. You must sign up using the above link to earn your bonus. Signing up using an external link will not guarantee you the bonus.
- Add a funding source. For example, many freelancers work for companies like Guru.com, Freelancer.com, and Upwork.com. You can add them as the funding source to your Payoneer account.
- Start receiving funds and hit your $1,000 target.
Well, I can do a lot with $25. For example, I can pay for my LiveChat subscription for a whole year. There’s a lot that you can do with $25.
(b) Payoneer MasterCard
After signing up for Payoneer, you can request your MasterCard. Payoneer takes approximately 2 weeks to ship the card to your address of choice. You can withdraw your Payoneer funds using this card from any ATM in Kenya. You can also use the cards for online stores like Jumia, or online anywhere MasterCard is accepted. As far as I’m concerned, Payoneer is the only online payment provider that comes with a MasterCard. Its competitor in Kenya, PayPal does not provide any MasterCard. You can only withdraw your PayPal balance to your bank account, an option that is still available in Payoneer users.
(c) Great Currency Exchange Rates
Payoneer is an online payment service provider that comes with great currency exchange rates. I want to give an example as a user of both Payoneer and PayPal. For me, I use both because most of my direct clients prefer PayPal. On the other hand, I mostly use Payoneer to receive mass payments from companies abroad.
In January 2021, the USD = KES exchange rate was around 109.5 (1 USD = 109.5 KES). I received payments to my PayPal balance from my clients and the exchange rate was 1 USD = 105.5 KES. Therefore, PayPal was earning about KES 4 from each dollar exchanged. On the other hand, during the same period, Payoneer's exchange rate was 1 USD = 107.5 KES. Thus, the company was earning KES 2 from each dollar. Therefore, with Payoneer, you’re assured that you’ll receive more funds to your Kenyan account.
(d) Partnership with Other Payment Service Providers
One of the most notable companies that has partnered with Payoneer is 2Checkout. I have selected it for one reason: I never used the company to receive payments from my customers abroad. I used to sell digital items online like eBooks. Before a customer downloads the book, he/she must pay first using his debit or credit card. In this case, I used 2Checkout to securely process credit/debit card payments on my online store. After the funds arrived in my 2Checkout account, I would then withdraw them to my Payoneer USD Account. Finally, I would access them either through a local bank or withdraw them from any ATM near me.
The partnership is beneficial to Kenyan small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). For example, if you wanted to establish an online payment system that accepts card payments, you incur a lot. Companies that integrate card payments on websites using your merchant bank account charge up to KES 150,000. That’s a lot of money for Kenyan youth. However, when you decide to use third parties like 2Checkout, you incur little or no costs.
Cons
I have used Payoneer for over five years now I can’t complain a lot like I did with PayPal. The only problem I encountered with them was a delayed withdrawal request during a Christmas Holiday. At this time, I hadn’t requested by Prepaid MasterCard from Payoneer. Instead, I was relying on withdrawals to a local bank account. In their policy, Payoneer states that funds withdrawn during holidays are likely to delay until the holiday is over.
On usual business days, I used to receive my funds in less than 24 hours. For example, if I receive my payment at 4 PM, I would receive it by 10 AM the next day. So, I received payment and withdrew the funds at around 4 PM on 24th December. I was expecting to receive them by 10 AM the following day. I didn’t remember that Payoneer doesn’t work during holidays. So I had to wait until the 27th to access the funds. All my Christmas holiday plans were shuttered. That’s the only challenge I’ve experienced with Payoneer, but so far I haven’t discovered any better payment service.
Conclusion
Payoneer in Kenya is an excellent option for freelancers working for clients and companies abroad. Unlike PayPal that regularly limits your account for security checks, Payoneer is simple and straightforward. PayPal can frustrate you more than the frustration I experienced during the Christmas Holiday. They will limit your account when least expected, and this can easily put you in trouble.
On the other hand, Payoneer gives you the best convenience. For example, you can access your funds via your Payoneer MasterCard anywhere you want. If you are outside the United States, you can receive your funds at great exchange rates. This also makes it possible to receive your funds in any local currency.
All these benefits make Payoneer the best payment option for any freelancer working from Kenya.