How Paypal payments work in Nigeria as at 2014

Paypal Nigeria is one of the latest ways to make payments online in Nigeria and a lot of users have already subscribed to it from Africa's largest market.

Nigerians want to be able to make payments online not just locally but globally and this has helped in giving them access to online services and websites that only accept payments through Paypal and were once beyond their reach.

How does Paypal payments really work in Nigeria? What does it take to initiate a payment? What fees are involved? How long does it take for the receiver to receive the payment? Can anyone in Nigeria open an account with Paypal?

There are many questions which people normally ask when it comes to using Paypal especially in a newly admitted country such as Nigeria. Well, I'll try to answer those questions but I'm going to start by first sharing with you my Paypal payment experience.

Before sending a Paypal payment in Nigeria, a user will first have to get registered online with Paypal Nigeria and afterwards link his bank issued debit card(Visa or Mastercard) to his Paypal account. My UBA Mastercard worked fine for me and after about 24 hrs of adding the card, I receive an sms alert to my phone and I then used the transaction details to verify my Paypal account from Nigeria. Once your account has been verified in Nigeria, you can subsequently send payments to other Paypal users across the world without the need to keep reminding them of your debit card details since they have already been stored. As long as your account is verified and there is Naira in your bank account, you can send payments globally to other Paypal users in the world in any currency of your choice.

The next step after my Paypal Nigeria account has been verified is to send money. I normally use paypal to pay for online services, do online shopping and register for certain subscriptions. So, sending money with Paypal is quite easy as all you need to know is the person's Paypal email address. There are no fees to sending money and all you need to do is enter the person's email address, the amount and choose to select "No shipping address required" and the money will be sent in minutes. It's a bit faster than Western Union since the person will receive the money in his Paypal account in minutes although in virtual form.

The only fee I know that Paypal charges the receiver of the money is a percentage of the transaction value and then an additional $0.30 flat fee. So, If I were to send $100 for instance to a friend in the USA, he is not going to get the total $100 but about $96.

I also use my Paypal account for online shopping at stores that accept it like from Miniinthebox, eBay and so on.

After sending a payment, I don't normally get a debit alert immediately from my bank but it takes about 24 hrs and I normally get it in the morning. If you've signed up for SMS alerts with your bank and you use your debit card for Paypal, you'd be getting sms alerts too on your phone after the transactions has been completed.

Can anyone in Nigeria open an account? Well, yes, as long as the person can open a bank account and get a Visa or Mastercard, then he/she can also use Paypal.