On 17 March, PayPal announced the launch of its peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfer service in Ukraine. This decision was made because of the war in Ukraine. AIN.Capital editor has already checked if the service is available, and it does work.
“As the crisis in Ukraine deepens, there is an ever growing need to help people in the region access critical humanitarian funds. PayPal is rolling out an expansion of its services available in Ukraine to provide its customers with ways to send money quickly and securely to friends, family, and loved ones,” the company’s press release says.
Previously, Ukrainians could only send money through PayPal. Now PayPal is expanding its money services.
- The company has announced the expansion of send and receive peer-to-peer (P2P) payments between friends and family for Ukrainian customers that will supplement the company’s existing PayPal and Xoom services available in Ukraine.
- PayPal temporarily waiving its own fees for customers sending funds to Ukrainian PayPal accounts or receiving funds into Ukrainian PayPal accounts.
- Ukrainian customers can transfer funds from their PayPal Wallet to eligible Mastercard and Visa debit and credit cards.
- Ukrainian customers who have traveled to other countries to seek refuge will be able to access these services by establishing a Ukrainian PayPal Wallet.
“Now Ukrainians can shop online, transfer funds, and withdraw money to Ukrainian bank cards. Link your Visa and Mastercard cards and enjoy these services now.
Many thanks to the PayPal team for such a quick response to our request and for supporting Ukrainians during the war. Also, we want to thank our team, the team of the National Bank, and the IT community for their help,” the Ministry of Digital Transformation commented this news
How to create a PayPal account:
- Go to PayPal.com/ua/home from a mobile web browser or on desktop.
- Click ‘Sign Up’ in the top right-hand corner.
- Add mobile number and verify the number.
- Ukrainian customers should select “Ukraine” when asked the question “Where do you live?”
- Next, enter information including name, email, address, date of birth, and nationality, and provide an ID number and type (passport or national ID).
- Once the account is set up and verified, customers can choose to link an eligible Mastercard or Visa debit or credit card to send and transfer funds.
Ukrainian customers will be able to send and receive funds from their Ukrainian PayPal Wallet in USD, CAD, GBP, and EUR. Once a customer transfers their funds from their PayPal Wallet to an eligible debit or credit card, the money will be available in the currency associated with that card. Exchange rates and fees charged by a customer’s card issuer or bank account may still apply.
Limitations
Ukrainians had been waiting for the launch of the full-fledged service for many years. Activists and officials lobbied for this decision but to no avail. That’s why the news from PayPal is very positive. But there are still some nuances.
The company’s press release says that PayPal will provide these new services and fee waivers to its customers through June 30, 2022.
Moreover, according to the information on the Help Center page, Ukrainian customers using a Mastercard from Universal Bank (including monobank), Alfa Bank, and UKRgasbank may not be able to use this card to transfer funds from a PayPal wallet to that Mastercard. Only Visa cards issued by these banks can be used to transfer funds from a PayPal Wallet.