While brazing for what seems to be one of the busiest two weeks in Tech world – thanks to the upcoming mobile world congress in Barcelona, we’ve decided to articulate just how easy it has become to shop online from some of the biggest sites in the world. Online shoppers in Kenya have had for a long time difficulties in making payments to international online outlets especially eBay and Amazon due to ambiguous modes of payments that these retail giants accept. To purchase something on eBay for example, one has to own a PayPal account that should be linked to a local bank account which can process such transactions. This has not always been easy especially to the average Kenyan, even though we’ve made tremendous strides in paperless transactions thanks to MPESA.
We can now appreciate how easy it has become to move money across various platforms such as MPESA and PayPal but most of these methods are still not effective to some and to simplify that, Western Union recently introduced a payment option that will see amazon shoppers in the country pay directly on their platform in local currency. The service which is currently limited to a few countries including Colombia, Chile, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines and Peru uses a PayCode generated from amazon.com by processing complex foreign exchange, settlement and money movement requirements for international e-commerce transactions to complete payments for users in Kenya.
While speaking on the development, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Western Union Digital Mr. Khalid Fellahi indicated the move was aimed to unlock access to Amazon.com for customers who need and want items that can only be found online in many parts of the world. Most items needed by consumers across the world are not necessarily available to them locally hence the need to acquire some via online means. Let’s say for example someone looking for a rare replacement part to repair their electronic device that’s not available locally, can easily find the exact part at a cheaper price from a different country rather than depending on the manufacturer who by the way might not have a store locally to ship in.
How to Shop Online at amazon.com and Pay through Western Union
- After you’ve identified your item at amazon.com and are sure its eligible to be shipped to your country in this case Kenya, proceed to the checkout page and select “PayCode”
- You will be sent a code, along with instructions on how to pay in person at a participating Western Union® agent location.
- Proceed to the Western Union agent and make the payment in local currency (they’ll do all the currency conversion for you)
Wait for your item to arrive and you don’t need to worry about credit card charges or hidden bank fees. It’s that simple.