The idea came from SashaMrkailo's Yahoo posting about Moneybookers.

Legal Disclaimer - Please check each Money Transfer Service website for exact details of charges, terms and conditions, etc. This page is just for comaprison on different services. No guarantee is given for it's accuracy. Use it at your own risk.

Please add any other services that you know of and at least fill in the web-address, even if you don't have time to look up the other details. Users can then get the details themselves. However, if you can fill them in, that would help people compare services and choose one with low charges.

Please leave the About section as the last section on the page.

It covers :-

Contents of this page Services and Charges    Western Union    Paypal    MoneyGram    eMoneyGram    Moneybookers    Moneybookers - More info received by SashaMrkailo    SendingAirtime as an alternative to cash    Mobile phone money transfer from UK to Kenya    Comments    AboutThisPage

Services and Charges    

• Sending Countries
• Receiving Countries
• Funding methods
• Withdrawal methods
• Charges
• Website
• Comments

Western Union    

• Sending Countries = Virtually all countries.
• Receiving Countries = Virtually all countries, including Kenya.
• Funding methods = Credit card online, or cash at an office.
• Withdrawal methods = Cash at any Western Union office.
• Charges = See website for exact charges. I found them High, 7.5% on £500.
• Website = http://www.westernunion.com/
• Comments = Payments can be sent a) using an online form, but there's a 30-day maximum amount (£500 in the UK), b) from any Western Union office, without this limit, by taking ID, or c) by Phone. The .com address is the international website. Your own country may have its own website, ending .co.uk, etc.

Paypal    

• Sending Countries = Most industrialized countries, not sub-saharan Africa.
• Receiving Countries = Most industrialized countries. For Africa, see note below.
• Funding methods = Bank account, credit card, or PayPal balance.
• Withdrawal methods = Bank transfer, check/cheque, via a Paypal debit card by withdrawing cash from cirrus/maestro ATM or by buying goods.
• Charges = About 2% + extra fee for international payment, see website. Extra charge for ATM cash using Paypal debit card.
• Website = http://www.paypal.com/
• Comments = Useful for moving money to/from US, UK, Lithuania, etc, before making a consolidated transfer via another method to Kenya, such as Western Union (high charges, online or at an office) or MoneyGram (low charges, but via a post-office form).

This Paypal page has a list of countries that people can send money to by Paypal. It includes Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and many other African countries, but not Nigeria. The sender sends money via an online form and provides an email address for the recipient. When the recipient gets it, if they have a Paypal account already, they can withdraw the funds electronically to their bank account. If not, they can sign up for a Paypal account and do the same thing, perhaps with some delay for approval. Hence, the service is only suitable for recipients with a bank-account. It's not a cash withdrawal service. However overall, Paypal's charges may be lower than other services.

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-approved-signup-countries

MoneyGram    

• Sending Countries = Virtually all, including African countries.
• Receiving Countries = Virtually all, including African countries (Kenya, etc).
• Funding methods = Cash only.
• Withdrawal methods = Cash only, usually in local currency.
• Charges = See website, about 5% for £100/$200 down to 1.4% for £1000/$2000.
• Website = http://www.moneygram.com/
• Comments = Payments have to be made using a form at a post-office, not online. In the US only, the eMoneyGram (below) provides an online version.

eMoneyGram    

• Sending Countries = US only (other countries must use MoneyGram at an office)
• Receiving Countries = 170+ countries, including Africa (Kenya, etc).
• Funding methods = Visa or Mastercard, or bank transfer.
• Withdrawal methods = Cash from any MoneyGram office.
• Charges = Example 1: $100 transfer, $10 = 10% fee Same-day, $8 = 8% fee Economy. Example 2: $899 transfer, $15 = 1.66% fee Same-day, $12 = 1.33% fee Economy.
• Website = http://www.emoneygram.com/
• Comments = This online service is for senders in the US only. Same-day service - $500 limit per transfer if paying by credit card (same-day service) or $899.99 per transfer by bank transfer. Economy service - $899.99 per transfer, any payment method.

Moneybookers    

• Sending Countries = 30+ countries, inc. US, Europe, Lithuania, but NOT Kenya (as far as I can tell from their website).
• Receiving Countries = 30+ countries, inc. US, Europe, Lithuania, but NOT Kenya (as far as I can tell from their website).
• Funding methods = Bank transfer, credit/debit card, cheque, etc. Varies by country.
• Withdrawal methods = Bank transfer, cheque or Visa. Varies by country, but is really for people with a Moneybookers account or bank account. Withdrawal is usually by bank transfer or cheque. It's not a cash-withdrawal service. The receiving bank must be directly connected to the SWIFT Network, not a correspondent bank.
• Charges = 1.80 Euros per withdrawal (check website). Funding is Free for bank transfer, other methods have charges.
• Website = http://www.moneybookers.com/
• Comments = Company is based in the UK. Money can be transferred within the same country, not just country-to-country. Also see letter below, received from Moneybookers by Sasha.

Moneybookers - More info received by SashaMrkailo    

Thank you for contacting Moneybookers Customer Service.

We would like to inform you that you may send money to a person in Kenya using Moneybookers. You may send money to anyone in Kenya who has a Moneybookers account or at least an e-mail address. When you send money to someone who does not have Moneybookers account the recipient will receive an e-mail instructing him how to open up an account with us and accept the transaction.

However, if the person that you are sending the money to, wishes to receive the money on their bank account, they will need to add their local bank details to their Moneybookers account and request a withdrawal. Please, be informed that for withdrawals in Kenya we use international banks transfer and there might be some additional fees applied by the processing banks. Those fees will not be covered by Moneybookers.

We hope you find this information helpful.

Best regards,

Bogdan

Moneybookers Team

SendingAirtime as an alternative to cash    

See SendingAirtime for details.

Mobile phone money transfer from UK to Kenya    

On Wed, 14/10/09, SashaMrkailo wrote in an email to Ricardo and MariaAgnese:

Seems that things are improving regarding the money transfer. This service would be very useful to Kenyans and other Africans in the future

http://whiteafrican.com/2009/10/13/moneygram-tackles-mobile-payments/

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/40042.php

Reply from Ricardo:

Hi Sasha

thanks. I've saved those articles. It could be useful, using Moneygram/Western Union + M-PESA in future.

I hope they also improve the UK Moneygram Service. In the UK, we have to take cash to a post office and fill in a moneygram form, but the Americans can send Moneygrams online.

Western Union is quite good, but limited to 3 transfers in 30 days, online. I think you can make more than 3 transfers in 30 days from a UK Western Union office.

Ricardo

Correction - The FAQ File says "The maximum amount of money you can send online within a revolving 30-day period is £600.00" (not 3 transfers).

Comments    

SashaMrkailo Hi Ricardo, please feel free to delete the email I copied to this page, I just wanted to show you that its posible to use moneybookers for Kenya. And this seemed the fastest way since you are not using some IM. Please delete it as its not proper for this nicely organized wiki page. Thank you!

AboutThisPage    

• PageType=Endeavor
• EndeavorLeader=Ricardo
• EndeavorTeam=AndriusKulikauskas, SashaMrkailo, JanetFeldman
• EndeavorSummary=Find the most efficient way to transfer funds, balancing commissions and convenience.
• PageByRicardo=Find the most efficient way to transfer funds, balancing commissions and convenience.

Wed, 31 Dec 08 14:25:52 +0000 Jane: There is no way you can withdraw money from your money booker if you are a kenyan living in Kenya. You can only recieve the payments into you moneybooker accounts and you can only send to someone with email address. Banks in Kenya does not recognize Moneybookers as method of payment. I sent $15 a week ago inorder for my account to be verified and yet it has not been verified yet. Am worried.

Tue, 03 Feb 09 11:38:14 +0000 Charles: I've sent money to Kenya using Moneybookers because it was good value and it was successfully withdrawn to a KCB account. BUT it took weeks and weeks of frustration.