I have read many misleading articles about PayPal Cameroon. But I think I have the obligation to clear things up, plus help you with steps to create and activate your Paypal Account for Cameroon.
Before the end of this post, there is a FAQ section where I answer many questions related to creating and owning a verified PayPal Account being in third-world country. Be sure to read through.
PayPal finally arrived in Cameroon, Nigeria, and some other African Countries, excluding Ghana. Though this first phase looks like a half-baked cake, it is still useful to Cameroonians who want to do online Payments. In addition, if you’re looking for software to ease the billing process through invoice templates and automate the entire process, EZBILLING360 is the tool to resort to.
Internet users in Cameroon have been wishing for this expected move from PayPal years ago. This expansion, therefore, seems to be meeting a pressing need.
Table of Contents - What is covered in this post
Though it’s now easy to sign up for paypal from Cameroon, there is still a limit…
What this means is you can’t receive payment or transfer funds from your Cameroonian Paypal account to any Bank Account anywhere in the world. So for the moment, money is moving in one direction -> out of Cameroon.
I have helped so many Cameroonians pay and buy stuffs online. So if you are just on the buying end, you are surely covered. The only thing you need is a Debit/Credit card from a local Bank to verify your Paypal Account and fund your buying transactions.
Most recommended prepared card is the UBA Africard. This helps you verify your Paypal account and buy more stuffs online. I’m also currently using my ECOBANK VISA card with smiles. So if you are in Cameroon and happy about the new development, go get UBA Africard, BICCEC VISA, Afriland VISA, ECOBANK VISA, etc to be complete.
Paypal Cameroon is still limited!
You cannot fund your Cameroonian Paypal account.
While this does not seem to be a big problem, it is a serious limitation. Without any bank account attached to your Cameroonian Paypal account, funding your account is practically impossible. With your debit/credit card linked, Paypal only serves as a middleman. The funds actually don’t get stored in your Paypal account.
When you make a buying transaction, your card is debited and funds sent straight to the seller, with no deposit in your paypal.
Here is what happens…
- You create a free Paypal Cameroon account.
- Verify your account with a Debit/credit card from local source.
- Deposit funds in your card.
- Then do payments through Paypal.
Paypal will bypass your Paypal account balance, collect funds from your card and do the payment on your behalf.
How to create a paypal account in Cameroon
One of the things Paypal has succeeded to do is simplify the signup process. Some of these merchant platforms make things really hard. But Paypal has completely delt with unnecessary long signup forms and complex verification processes.
Step 1: To create a paypal account in cameroon, first, go to Paypal Cameroon website here and click the Signup button:
This will bring up the next page where you fill a simple form and submit. The instructions are quite simple to follow. (Note that the page you see might be different from this)
Step 2: Then fill the simple signup form:
Select your language (French or English). If you miss this at this point, you will still be able to do some changes from within your account.
Step 3: Click the “Next” button and follow the instructions
From my experience, you don’t need any specific paypal cameroon login page. Just go to same page and you’ll be able to login.
How to verify your Paypal Cameroon account
A verified Paypal account is an account that has no limit on amount transacted within a month. While to verify a US Paypal account is still a hard task, verifying a Paypal Cameroon account is very simple.
To completely lift the limit on any US account, you need to validate your address (provide utility bills), ID (provide ID card, Passport, Drivers License) , attache a bank account, link a credit card, submit your social security number, etc. You see this is quite of a job.
Most of my blog readers are from US, India, Nigeria, etc. I know Indians have issues too with Paypal and Payoneer. I wrote about it in this post.
How to attach a credit/debit card to your Cameroon Paypal account
I mentioned above you can get a card from any of your local banks (Not micro-finance institutions). Common cards are VISA and Mastercard. Using a local ATM card issued by some financial institutions may not work.
On your dashboard, click the “Link a Card” button:
On the page that follows, carefully enter your card information:
- Card number
- Expiration date
- Security code
- Card type and
- Billing address.
Note that an expired card will not be allowed.
Paypal will then attempt connecting and charging your card with a small amount, usually under 1000FCFA.hat means you will need to have some money in your account before successfully attaching it.
If there are no funds in your card or some entered data is incorrect, you will have an error message.
NB: You will need to have access to your card’s transaction history to complete the process. Attaching the card is one thing. Activating it is yet another.
Paypal normally creates an entry on your card’s transaction history table with a unique code. That code will be required to finally activate the card.
If you do not have access to your card’s transaction history table, please contact your card dealer.
Other Merchant option for Cameroon?
The simple truth is that there’s been a lot of tech changes since those early days. Today, Cameroonians have other online payment options than Paypal.
A simple search will reveal quite a number of institutions that provide online business facilities. You may want to quickly take a look at 2checkout or Payoneer as alternatives to Paypal Cameroon.
The good thing is that these merchants still allow your buyers to pay with their paypal accounts while your funds are transferred to your Card or local bank account.
Some Paypal Cameroon commonly asked questions (FAQs)
I get to be asked so many questions by Cameroonians who wish to rely on Paypal for online transactions. The latest I got before editing this post was from a guy who wanted to receive $700 from a client out of the country.
I remember a pastor friend struggling to receive donations from faithfuls allover the world. It’s been a difficult step given that most of his worldwide Christians are heavy Paypal users. Here are some questions:
Q: Can I create a paypal account being in Cameroon?
A: Yes you can create your Cameroonian Paypal account to make payments online
Q: Can I attache my Paypal account to a bank account in Cameroon?
A: No. This isn’t possible at the moment of writing this article
Q: Can I receive money in my Cameroon Paypal Account?
A: At this point I’m writing, this isn’t possible. You can only make payment, which is a serious issue
Q: What are the currencies I can use? Is FCFA available?
A: FCFA or XAF is not a digital currency on the Paypal system. If you are making payments, you have two currencies available: American USD and EURO. But at the receiving end, there is a longer list of currencies available.
Q: How can I fund my account to make payment?
A: Funding your Paypal Cameroon account isn’t required. It’s just a bridge between your debit/credit card and your merchant. No funds are stored in the account.
Q: What happens in the case of a refund. Does Paypal not deposit the funds in my online account?
A: I haven’t had this experience before. But my guess is the system will rout the funds back to its source, usually the credit card funding source.
Q: What about using Paypal and Payoneer Card?
A: You can attache your Payoneer card to your Paypal account (At least it worked the last time I checked) but you won’t be able to withdraw to it.
Q: What about using Paypal and Payqin virtual card
A: Payqin is a virtual card system developed for African. It goes with MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money. You can simply top-up your account using these two carriers, powered by MonetBil. However, my Payqin virtual card was rejected by Paypal.
Q: Are there APIs to integrate Paypal Cameroon in my app?
A: No APIs available at the moment for receiving funds
Q: What about using my Cameroon account with freelance platforms like Fiverr, freelancer, etc
A: You can use your Paypal account in Cameroon to buy services on these platform. You won’t however be able to receive funds
Q: What does Cameroon Paypal account does like?
A: Here below is a screenshot of a typical Cameroonian paypal account at the moment of writing:
From the menu items, you can already perceive what you can do with your account:
- Summary: Your account dashboard
- Activity: Just a brief historique of your recent transaction
- Send Payment: This takes to you the function that allows you to send money
- Wallet: Simply lets you see your attached bank cards and of course allows you to link more cards
- Offers: Paypal suggested offers with discounts
- Help: For help
Q: How to receive money from paypal Cameroon
A: Many Cameroonians have constantly asked me how to withdraw paypal in Cameroon or how to receive paypal payments in cameroon. Of course the simple answer is that it’s not possible for now. Let’s hope paypal does in the few years ahead.
Q: Are there paypal banks in Cameroon ?
A: There are no Paypal banks in Cameroon at the moment. That simply explains why we here can’t withdraw paypal money.
Conclusion
I’d like to hear from you in the comment box. If you are Cameroonian, let me know what you think about Paypal Cameroon. If you are from a different country, tell us your experience.
And for my friends in Nigeria, how are you guys moving with this new development?