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In 2002, when e-Bay, an American multinational internet consumer-to-consumer corporation, headquartered in San Jose, California acquired PayPal for a staggering $1.5 billion; it marked the beginning of an epic scale frustration for millions of Nigerians who legitimately wanted to complete a transaction on the internet that has the PayPal logo on it.
Unfortunately, Nigeria seems to have earned itself a disconfirming reputation of internet fraud. While this can be legitimately debated, in reality, Nigerian internet scammers do not constitute the majority of the population, just an infinitesimal minority. I know you can argue, you are wrong, I love you but you are wrong. I have my reservation and I believe it is wrong to stereotype the majority of a population based on the unscrupulous and nefarious activities of a minority just has PayPal continues to do.
I have tried to come to terms with reality, but each time, the reasons why PayPal won’t serve Nigerians completely fails to make any sense in my mind. There can be no justification from hindering millions of innocent internet user’s residing in Nigeria from transactions online. PayPal makes the issue of security a very big deal against Nigeria when they have the best crop of robots and humans, who are experts in detecting frauds. Nigeria doesn’t have the biggest internet security threat records and I don’t need a soothsayer to tell me where the biggest security challenges comes from. Yet, PayPal enjoys intimacy with them.
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Nigeria has the biggest internet users in Africa and a lot of payment processors have found ways to cut the excesses as it relates to fraud but PayPal has thus far been reluctant in overhauling its system and policies to accommodate more legitimate internet users. Africa countries like Togo, Mali, Chad, Enritrea and over 30 others have PayPal support but Nigeria has been branded a “rejected stone.”
The frustration level on my part is high, I can recall vividly how I begged a friend of mine in the United States to help pay for some services required on this blog which was only possible via PayPal and I have simply walked away from some good offers because my clients insists on paying with PayPal. I even saw a hashtag Twitter campaign #PayPalNigeria directed towards PayPal, to at least give Nigeria a second thought, but should we continue to plead that PayPal accepts Nigeria? No! Certainly not. We can adapt and we have equally learned to develop a healthy disrespect for any company who won’t spend an extra effort in making their system uncomfortable for fraudsters.
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In the case no one has informed PayPal, the internet fraud level in Nigeria which was orchestrated by harsh economic conditions has reduced drastically, everyone has gotten better and I believe PayPal’s security system is more sophisticated than before to handle frauds of colossal proportion but if PayPal continues to think Nigeria doesn’t deserve a spot in their good books, then one has to rationally put to the question, the effectiveness of PayPal’s glorified security system, if the world’s largest payment processor continues to get scared by a harmless nation Nigeria.
Update:
We WON!!! Seven months ago when we published this article, I was really frustrated like many other millions of Nigerians. Little did we know that PayPay was hearing our voices but this couldn’t have been possible without the magnanimous efforts of CreativityKills who created the never-again-to-be-duplicated online petition that dramatically changed the mind of PayPal. Concerned blogs like Geek.NG, TechCabal and OscarMini also have their footprints on this incredible achievement that has sent shock-waves throughout the Nigerian webspace.
It is thanks to everyone who signed the petition, who shared it on social media and all those who have contributed in one way or the other. Indeed, the WAR is over!
More details via Retuers
Last Updated June 17th, 2014.
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10 Comments
Ebenezer Obasi
Well taken article! I really see reasons why some countries should be banned but I don’t seem to understand why one of those countries should be Nigeria.
Over the past few years, things have changed drastically in this country, the citizens motives for being online has been harnessed for good… Just consider the number of blogs and online business empires own by Nigerians, I think that explains why a country like Nigeria should never be among the ‘out-of-bounds’ country in the Paypal world; we deserve a place in the paypal white pages…
I’m not sure using the #PayPalNigeria hastag will help anything, but it’s worth trying. I also feel that more articles like this should be published on various blogs across the web.
Nosa E Nosa
Your points are very valid buddy. PayPal sure needs a rethink!
ologundudu opeoluwa abraham
Paypal is very annoying. I think there is more to it than we know. Their claim are not justifiable and it seems rather superficial.
Nigeria of all countries in the world should not be denied. There are so many freelancing opportunities for me but the issue is majority pay only by paypal. very disheartening.
Nosa E Nosa
You are right friend, there is evidently a plethora of offers, but PayPal has always been a steady brick-wall. I believe they can’t continue to ignore us. Soon PayPal will get rid of their blanket of fear and accept Nigerians..
Enjoy the rest of the day Abraham.
Temilola Globalwalyy
I don’t Know, if i should clap for you or not for putting up this post, One of the main reason PayPal was banned in Nigeria was because of our Banking system
Nosa E Nosa
Do you really think so buddy?
Nwosu Desmond
The denial of Nigerians from using the Paypal has limited us to a lot. I have personally missed on a lot of opportunities and though there is a way i can open and run a Paypal account now even as a Nigerian, i don’t usually go to places where i am not needed. I have seen people’s account limited and a lot of money lost.
No matter what their issue is, i believe some day they will realize the opportunities they are missing from Nigeria by excluding us from using their services. It can only get better, i am optimistic someday it will change and then i can also open an account legitimately.
Paypal is not the only online money processor that won’t let Nigerians use their platform, others like Skrill also won’t let us use their services as Nigerians, and it will be wrong to say that all Nigerians are scammers, they should build their site and secure it in a way that they can’t be fooled.
Nosa Ero Nosa
Hello Desmond,
It’s a precarious situation.. I have tried having PayPal and both attempts had a very pathetic end. Lost a good amount of money on both accounts and I have decided not to think about corporations like PayPal anymore..
No matter how long it takes, a company built on arrogance will always meet its waterloo.. Motorola, Nokia, Myspace, Symbian, Sony TV are amongst a few corporations and/or products that were largely seen as “untouchable”.. but today the reality is that they have totally lost their relevance..
Enstine Muki
Hey Nosa,
Nigerians and Africans at large suffer a great deal from this issue. I have lost so much online because of this unreasonable limitation by Paypal. I didn’t know most Africans are the most able to break into Paypal and tear their system apart. If not, what’s their fear
Nosa Ero Nosa
Hello Muki,
Thanks for stopping by and I certainly agree with you about Africa and PayPal’s Security. It’s something that continues to elude me. I hope this issue becomes history soon.
Do have a nice day.