First Bank and PayPal Partner in Nigeria

First Bank and PayPal Partner in Nigeria for easy, secure and fast Online Payments.

FirstBank Nigeria Limited yesterday went into partnership with PayPal, an international e-commerce payment platform known for its efficient and secure mode of online payments to help boost online transactions in Nigeria. First Bank has become the first official PayPal partner in Nigeria.

First Bank and PayPal Officials signing the Partnership Deal

PayPal which prides itself as the most secure, easy and fast way to make online purchases in 203 countries yesterday partnered with First Bank Nigeria Limited to enable its customers to easily open a verifiable PayPal account.

PayPal just last month lifted the embargo on Nigeria and 9 other countries which could not previously access their service. The synergy between FirstBank and PayPal gives the bank an edge over other financial institutions in Nigeria which have access to PayPal platform. FirstBank internet banking customers can now open PayPal account from their FirstOnline account and use their FirstBank debit or credit card to make online payments or related transactions on millions of eCommerce sites around the world from their personal computers or smartphones without sharing their card details with the eCommerce sites or sellers with the added reassurance of PayPal Buyer Protection.

FirstBank spokesperson, Folake Ani-Mumuney said “The acceptance of FirstBank Cards on PayPal platform is a significant boost to our continuous initiatives to drive innovation in banking services and as part of our promise to always put customers planning their summer shopping or carrying out money transfers across our various alternative channels. FirstBank cards are accepted in over 200 countries and on millions of POS terminals and ATMS around the world. This implies that FirstBank cardholders are never stranded in any part of the world where they decide to shop or do business”.

“We are delighted to be able to bring PayPal to all our customers in Nigeria in partnership that is consistent with our drive to support the push towards a cashless society in Nigeria and lead innovation in development of secure online payment systems. For all FirstBank customers opening a PayPal account using our FirstOnline platform is faster, easier and will only take a few minutes, as the customer has already been verified by First Bank”, stated Folake.

I believe this partnership will go a long way to help First Bank customers in reaching a wider coverage as one time I was in Bangkok with some colleagues on a program, some of them using FirstBank ATMs found it difficult to access money using the ATM or making payment in the POS channels in that country but my GTBank Naira and Dollar debit cards were paying me with just a charge of N1000 per transaction.

Recommended Read: How to Open and Verify a PayPal Account in Nigeria using your Bank ATM.

Efi Dahan, PayPal’s Regional Director for Africa and Israel while commenting on the partnership said that Millions of Nigerians already shop on websites in the US, UK or China, but many find their card is rejected or have concerns about entering their credit card details on the website of a seller based oversees. PayPal is used by hundreds of millions of people around the world to make international payments because PayPal payments are trusted by international retailers and we don’t share your financial details with anyone.

“This exclusive partnership with FirstBank is a major milestone in PayPal’s Africa growth story and we hope to make more announcements together in future as our partnership develop.”

PayPal offers a variety of services to their partners and users but Nigerians and the other recently accepted countries can only make payments for products and services online. They cannot receive payments from their websites as it has not been approved by PayPal Headquarters.

Read: About MBA Forex crash and why the company is blaming CBN.

To make a payment with PayPal, account holders only need to provide sellers with their verified email address and password or mobile PIN. PayPal in turn authorizes the payment based on available funds and eligible purchases are covered by PayPal Buyer Protection.

FirstBank is just the official PayPal partner in Nigeria but PayPal accept other banking institutions ATM’s for verification. If you are not using FirstBank yet and do not wish to open an account with them but desire opening a PayPal account, you do not need to worry as I have written a step-by-step guide on how to open and verify a PayPal account in Nigeria.