Kenya PayPal Cashouts : The Process Simplified

Like many countries in Africa, cashing out international payments can be an endless nightmare. This is particularly so for countries like Kenya where local banks do not yet have arrangements with PayPal International to provide avenues for withdrawing moneys earned. This can prove to be a very slow process and waiting for the banks to align themselves can be both costly and frustrating especially for many cash-strapped Kenyans who need to cash their money as soon as they earn it. This is normal and very understandable.
In my quest, I came across very many ways of doing this but I found this method that I shall explain below to be among the less complicated and more straightforward ways to go. It is not cheap but then again, all methods will cost in terms of time spent waiting or transaction costs incurred or both. It is in this light that the process of getting paid has been explained so as to encourage Kenyans working online not to loose hope in their bid to acquire multiple sources of income. I shall try to explain it as simply as possible and feel free to let me know if it has helped you as you follow it step by step.

1. Ensure you have a valid email address for your transactions. Gmail is particularly well suited for PayPal transactions among many others useful activities. It may be advisable to get a free gmail address if you do not already have one.
2. Most international workers know and recognize PayPal as one of the most accepted methods of receiving and dispensing payments. This means that, it is very important to create a PayPal account. It is free and Kenya is one of the few lucky African countries where it is possible to create one. The site is www.paypal.com. It is VERY IMPORTANT for security reasons to ensure that your details are truthful and accurate because I can assure you that any shortcuts will come back to bite you where it hurts most.
3. For this account to be recognized, it must be VERIFIED. The process of verification simply requires providing the details of a VALID credit card. These details are checked and security information is mailed to a VALID postal address for you to complete the verification process. This takes about one month.
4. One of the best credit cards to use is the KCB GENERAL PURPOSES CARD which you can get at any KCB branch for an unbelievably low investment. You do not need a KCB account to get it. This cards takes about 2 weeks to acquire. There are many other cards in the market which you can use as well.  
5. With a verified PayPal account, the transactions that can be done are limitless as compared to a set limit when the account is not verified. I would advice that once you have opened your PayPal account, set about the verification process before reaching the limit of your transaction quota. This way, you save time for yourself and you are able to continue with business as usual without unecessary delays.
6. When you have received money into your PayPal account you will always get a message in your email. It is always good to go and check the actual balance because PayPal, like any other service, has its charges.
7. When you wish to withdraw a certain amount of money, one of quickest ways of doing it is by using a facility called ePAY-KENYA through their website www.epay-kenya.com. This is done in liaison with their sister site Chuchi hosting through www.chuchihosting.com.
8. Create free accounts in both places. Again, ensure your information is accurate and upto date.
9. For epay-kenya to allow you to transact using their facility it is important to ensure that your account is VERIFIED. This is a rather quick and simple process that takes a couple of minutes. This is very important for security reasons.
10. Epay-kenya works with Kenyans who have both Paypal and Skrill (moneybookers) accounts to help them withdraw to Kenya shillings but I shall limit this post to PayPal transactions only.
11. To begin the withdrawal process, PayPal clients are directed to their site Chuchi hosting i.e. www.chuchihosting.com. Login here first. Here a person sees various products on offer that represent various denominations for the PayPal amount which they wish to withdraw.
12. Don't worry about the various descriptons, just select the product that closely matches the amount you wish to withdraw. It is important to note that at this point a fee of 10% is withdrawn.
13. Add the products to the basket and when finished view the basket to ensure that you have what you require. 
14. You are now ready to checkout and you need to follow the various security checks for addresses until you are ready to checkout.
15. Paypal clients need to press 2Checkout because this facility links their purchase to their PayPal account which automatically deducts the amount of the product selected. For this to complete successfully PayPal clients must put in their PayPal password. 
16. Keep following the prompts until you are notified that the transaction has completed successfully. Take your time and be sure of what you are doing.
17. As soon as this transaction is complete, you receive 2 emails simultaneously. One is from Chuchi hosting confirming the successful transaction. The other is an official online receipt from PayPal confirming that your funds have been withdrawn to make the required payment.
18. From your email account, forward the PAYPAL RECEIPT (NOT chuchi hosting receipt)  to epay-kenya via email address support@epay-kenya.com. This ensures that the staff at epay-kenya receive details of the transaction and begin processing the payment into Kenya shillings. Please note that a fee of $1.5 is deducted. The process takes about only 30 minutes for the amount to appear in your epay-kenya account.
19. Login to your epay-kenya account and verify that the amount has been credited into your account. The account balance is usually shown at the top of the page. If not, ensure that you sent the CORRECT receipt and wait a few more minutes. They are normally very busy but also very efficient.
20. Once the amount reflects in your account, you are ready to withdraw. Press WITHDRAW MONEY.
21. Epay-kenya withdraws to various to various facilities and charges various fees. The MPESA/ZAP/ORANGE MONEY option costs $3 per transaction. It is the cheaper option.
22. Ensure your MOBILE NUMBER is correct and follow the prompts provided to effect the withdrawal. 
23. It takes very few minutes for the money to be sent to your phone for onward withdrawal to cash and happy times.

This process sounds long and complicated but it is not. It may also sound expensive but so would any other international transaction. What I know is that it is fast, efficient and delivers real money. Good luck to all you Kenyans working online and drop me a comment to compare notes. Be blessed.