If you are from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Malawi, or Zambia then you should consider opening a PesaPal account. PesaPal is an online payment processor or an e-currency that allows its users to receive payments, pay bills, pay school fees, buy airtime and shop online.
How to Get Started
With PesaPal
There are two
different kinds of accounts; Personal and Business. A personal account allows you
to;
- Pay your bill
- Pay School Fees
- Buy Airtime
- Buy Event Tickets
- Find places to shop
While business account
allows you to;
- Accept Online Payments
- Online invoicing
- Simple selling
- Sell event tickets
Setting up a personal
account is very easy since there is no verification needed and you only
need to fill up a registration form. However, to set up a business
account, you will need to go through a verification process and forward some
personal documents for approval.
Here are some of
the documents that you will need to submit during application – A copy of
your ID or passport, a voided/canceled cheque in the name of the sole
proprietor, a copy of business registration, and a copy of the KRA pin
number/tax compliance certificate. These documents are required for
identification purposes and as a way of minimizing fraud.
Once you have
submitted the required documents, you can now integrate Pesapal to your
website and start receiving payment through it.
How Pesapal Works
A buyer purchases a
good or service in any of the PesaPal integrated merchant's websites using Mpesa,
Credit Card, or PesaPal wallet. The payment is then reflected into merchant's
account. The money is not immediately released to the merchant but instead, it
is held in a trust bank account. A notification is then sent to both the buyer
and seller with the summary of the transaction.
Both the buyer and
merchant can track all transactions and payment status by logging in to their
account. PesaPal offers up to standard accuracy when processing payments
and any unmatched amount is available to the user in their PesaPal credit
balance.
The seller delivers
the goods to the buyer and the buyer confirms once the goods are delivered. The
merchant then issues a withdrawal request by logging into their PesaPal
account. PesaPal issues a settlement request to the bank and the money is
deposited into the merchant’s bank account.
In case of a
dispute, PesaPal provides dispute resolution mechanisms and supports
payment reversal, whenever is required.
What are the
Pesapal Fees/Charges?
No charges for buyers.
PesaPal merchant's sales charges range between 3.5% t0 5% per transaction.
In addition, they also do offer volume discounts for those merchants
selling in large volume.
Conclusion
PesaPal offers an easy
way to receive payments, pay bills, or shop online. This saves you a lot
of time that you could have wasted lining up in the bank. They also
do offer escrow service, which is a great way to protect their buyers.
One downside with
PesaPal is that they only accept registered companies as their
merchants and not individuals like other online merchants' websites like
eBay, hence limiting their ability to get more merchants and buyers.