Equity Bank is moving from taking 3 business days to settle PayPal withdrawals to 24hrs or one business day. The bank has announced this today calling it the ‘fastest PayPal settlement period in the country‘. (M-Pesa – PayPal withdrawals however are nowadays immediate – taking less than 3 minutes).

Equity is currently the only bank offering PayPal withdrawal services in the country. The bank enables PayPal account holders to withdraw funds paid from their registered PayPal accounts straight to their Equity Bank accounts in either KES or USD, excluding credit card accounts.

The bank says freelance writers, Kenyans with families abroad, those in the creative industry and MSMEs involved in cross border trade among others are expected to benefit from this service with both PayPal and Equity charging minimal processing fees.

How to connect Equity to PayPal:

For new users looking to use the withdrawal service, once they have successfully created and verified their PayPal accounts, they will sign up on the Equity Bank website through the link here https://ke.equitybankgroup.com/paypal/How-to.html.

Commenting on the new development, Equity Bank Kenya Managing Director Gerald Warui said, “The reduction in the settlement period is of great significance as the country moves towards growing the uptake of e-commerce. COVID-19 has forced many MSMEs to adopt a digital operating model including the adoption of cash lite payment models such as direct payments into their Equity accounts through PayPal. The reduced settlement period will allow businesses to effectively receive payments enabling them to manage their cash flows and accelerating the growth of their businesses.”

Speaking on behalf of PayPal, Tahir Emrah Tuzun, PayPal Head of Sales and Market Development Middle East and Africa said, “As PayPal, we are happy to enhance our relationship with Equity for the better good of our customers. Whether you are an individual or a business, PayPal will enable you to get paid from over 200 countries and markets. PayPal account holders can now easily access their balances by withdrawing to their Equity Bank account. The significant reduction in settlement time simply means quicker access to funds for businesses reinforcing our commitment to supporting the growth of local MSMEs.”