How to Withdraw Money from PayPal in Zimbabwe

PayPal launched in Zimbabwe in 2014, but users were only allowed to send funds or make payments. All that’s changed now and Zimbabwe citizens can both send and receive funds via PayPal.

Source – techzim.co.zw

PayPal is a way to pay and get paid online. The service allows anyone to pay in any way they prefer, including through credit cards, bank accounts, PayPal Smart Connect or account balances, without sharing financial information.

PayPal allows one to send money to Zimbabwe and you can pick up at ZB Bank and Terra Payment Services locations. Transfer money directly to Econet mobile wallets.

To create a verified PayPal account, you will need a prepaid card or Debit Card, which you will use to verify your PayPal account. A verified PayPal account is an account that has at least 1 prepaid card or debit card or bank account connected to it and with a card linked to your PayPal account your PayPal account will appear credible to your customers and clients.

It’s important that you link a card to your PayPal account if you intend to use your PayPal account for online payments immediately after creating it.

PayPal enables digital and mobile payments on behalf of consumers and merchants worldwide. With PayPal, the applicant can:

• Send / receive payments on e-commerce stores such as Amazon, eBay, Alibaba etc
• Buy or sell goods and services
• Transfer money from one PayPal account to another
• Transfer money from bank to PayPal account and vice-versa
• Exchange cash with someone
• Make or receive donations
• Send money to his/her friends, family and relatives

Required Information to create a verified PayPal include but not limited to:

• Full name of the applicant
• Date of birth
• Residential address
• Sex, Age and marital status of applicant
• Nationality
• Email address
• Postal address
• Mobile phone number
• Business name (in case of business account)
• Credit /Debit Card details (Number / Expiry date)
• Passport / Identity card Number

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

• e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

Steps to open a verified PayPal account in Zimbabwe:

You will have to first visit Zimbabwe’s PayPal website page to make the application. The PayPal account can be accessed through the link here Open PayPal Account Link.

Upon entering the Zimbabwe’s PayPal homepage, click on the “Sign Up” Option to register for an account on the PayPal platform. This will direct the applicant to the next page where they can start their registration process.

On the next page choose between the provided account options. You can choose from 

• Personal Account (for personal accounts)
• Business Account (for business accounts)

Upon choosing the type of account the applicant intends to open, the applicants have to enter their mobile number for confirmation.

Upon entering the phone number, the applicant will receive an automated text (code) to confirm the validity phone number. 

Enter the code onto the text box and click on the “Next” button to proceed with the application. 

On the next page enter the required information for registration click on the “Register” button.

This will cause a confirmation email address to be sent to the applicants email address.

The applicant should log into their email address and confirm their registration by clicking on the “Complete Registration” button, in the email which has been sent.

This will direct you back to the Zimbabwe’s PayPal website page.

The applicant should then update their profile details by adding and verifying their identification details, uploading their photograph and Changing/Setting their password.

• Please provide required information. 

A list of the required information is mentioned in the “Required Information” section of this page.

Confirm that all the information you have given is correct and click on the “Submit Application” button.

This will cause a confirmation email address to be sent to the applicants email address.

The applicant should confirm the email by logging into their email address and add their Credit/Debit card information to their PayPal account (if available) and click on the “Submit” button to complete the application.

The PayPal officials then will check the application’s authenticity. If the authorities are satisfied with the application, a notification email confirming the opening of the account will be sent to the applicant.

This process usually takes a period of one week and no fee is charged for the application. The applicant can now log into their PayPal account and use it to make or receive payments.

Other Required Documents includes but not limited to:

• Identification card
• Passport / driver license (optional)
• Passport photo (optional)
• Proof of physical address (e.g water/ electricity bill)

How to withdraw your  PayPal balance using myRunner

myRunner. What is it?

When they started off, myRunner was an online bus booking company that allowed you to also track your bus and rate the bus service making it easier to know the quality and reliability of 3rd party buses before using them. In 2018 they were nominated for the Southern Africa startup awards amongst 2 other startups.

From there they diversified into remittances allowing sending of goods and money to and from South Africa. The service was further expanded to Zambia and now has grown to have a presence in 50 countries. And they did not stop there. They also introduced PayPal deposits and withdrawals earlier this year and the process is really simple.

Their services are WhatsApp based. No app or functional website really. So you reach out to them via their WhatsApp number and you make your request of how much you intend on depositing or withdrawing. In my case, it was a withdrawal.

A PayPal link was sent to me via WhatsApp with an accompanying message to visit any of their physical outlets. The closest one to me at that point was their 5th street branch opposite Roadport in Harare. Their agent requested the amount (US$30) and my ID as well as a US$5 service charge for the withdrawal. So in total, it cost me US$5 to withdraw US$30.

Once payment is made, you send them a screenshot of the proof of payment and as soon as the payment reflects on their end they proceed to hand you the cash. All in all the entire process took around 5 minutes.

Charges

myRunner has a minimum fee of US$5 if the transaction is less than US$50 and 5-10% of the transaction value for amounts greater than US$50. However, it is only this straightforward if your PayPal account is a customer account and not a merchant and also if it is a US dollar account.

For accounts that use other currencies, there may be some currency conversion charges on top of the standard transaction fees driving the cost of the transaction up. These are charges within PayPal and not myRunner. PayPal will notify you if the account you are sending money to is using a different currency to your account. It will even show you how much they will receive after factoring in all the charges and you can take a look at those charges by clicking here. If you want to try out their service you can reach out to them on WhatsApp by clicking here and for those in Harare here.