Are you in Kenya and looking for a way to transfer money from your PayPal to your Mpesa accounts? Then your search is over. You’ll be happy to know that it is now possible to link your PayPal and Mpesa accounts.

In this post we’re going to show you how. We’ll share with you how to get set up, how to withdraw money from your PayPal into your Mpesa and as a bonus, we’ll also show you how to top up your PayPal account from your Mpesa. But before we dive into it, it’s important to understand what Mpesa PayPal service is.

What is the Mpesa PayPal Service and who can use it?

It’s simply a money transfer service operated by Thunes, a B2B mobile payment networking company, in cooperation with Mpesa and PayPal. This service is meant to enable joint PayPal and Safaricom customers to move funds in between the two accounts.

With that said it’s obvious that you’re only eligible for the service if you’re residing in Kenya, and own both a PayPal and Mpesa account as well as a Google account. If you don’t have one of the accounts then ensure you register for one before using this service. To register for a PayPal account, you can visit www.paypal.com. And to register for a Mpesa account, you can visit any Mpesa agent or Safaricom outlet for assistance.

Now you must be wondering, can you use the service to send money to someone else? Unfortunately, that is not possible. You can’t send money from your Mpesa to someone’s PayPal account or vice versa. The two accounts that are linked are required to have the same name, meaning you should own both accounts.

How can you register for the service?

To get set up with this service, go to PayPal Mobile Money Service with Mpesa, to link your Mpesa account to your existing PayPal account. Follow these steps below:

• From the welcome page click on Get Started
• A new page will appear prompting you to log in to your PayPal account.
• Using your primary PayPal email address to log into your PayPal account
• Then enter the mobile number registered for Mpesa.
• From there Thunes on behalf of Mpesa will send you a verification code will be sent to the mobile number you entered.
• Once you’ve verified your account, that’s it! You can now be logging in using your PayPal credentials in the future.

If you’re linking your Mpesa to a new PayPal account, you first have to sign up and create the PayPal account before following the steps above. Now for the question you’ve eagerly been waiting for.

How do you withdraw money from PayPal to Mpesa?

The steps are simple. Once you have successfully registered for the service:

• Log on to your PayPal account using your credentials.
• Click on ‘Withdraw’
• The available balance in your account will be displayed in US dollars, please note you can only withdraw the available amount.
• Key in the amount of money you wish to withdraw from the available balance in US dollars and click on ‘Withdraw’.
• The site will redirect you to a new page displaying the amount you will receive in Kenyan shillings along with the currency conversion rate and time the transaction will take to be completed.
• Click on ‘Confirm’ to complete the transaction and wait for a confirmation message.

The funds should be credited to your Mpesa in 2 hours-3 calendar days from the time you receive the confirmation message. It depends on the amount of money you’re transacting. The amount is limited by Mpesa transaction policies which state you can only transact up to 70,000 Kenyan shillings per transaction and 140, 000 Kenyan shillings per day. Once your Mpesa has been credited you will receive an email from PayPal and a message from Mpesa proving the same. Note, for withdrawal services, PayPal will charge you 3% of the amount withdrawn to Mpesa in Kenyan shillings. Aside from that the normal Mpesa transactions charges will apply.

How do you top up your PayPal account via Mpesa?

If you want to do some online shopping or transfer money to someone’s PayPal, the process of topping up your account via Mpesa is very easy. First, you need to calculate the amount of money you need to send by converting the currencies. To do that you have to:

• Log in to your PayPal account and click on ‘Top-up funds’.
• Key in the amount you want to top up in US dollars and click ‘Calculate’.
• You’ll be redirected to a new page displaying the amount in Kenyan shillings.
• Now that you have the exact amount you’re meant to top up, you can proceed:
• Go to the Mpesa Menu on your mobile phone.
• Click on Lipa na Mpesa and select the Pay Bill option.
• Under Business number, key in 800088 and click enter
• Under Account number, key in your registered phone number and click enter
• Under Amount, key in the amount you were shown in Kenyan shillings
• Now key in your Mpesa pin and click send to complete the transaction.

You should receive a confirmation message from Mpesa and an email from PayPal that the account has been topped up. Also, note that just as with withdrawing funds, PayPal charges a fee of 4% of the amount topped up. Mpesa transaction charges also apply.

Conclusion

That’s all there is. If you follow the simple steps we’ve shared with you, you should be able to transfer money easily from Mpesa to PayPal and vice versa.