At an event in Lagos, FirstBank and global payments provider PayPal have announced an exclusive partnership to enable FirstBank customers to register for a PayPal account from their FirstOnline, Internet-banking account. By linking FirstBank-issued debit, prepaid or credit cards to their new PayPal account, FirstBank customers can shop and pay on millions of websites around the world from their PCs, tablets or smartphones, without having to share their financial information with the seller. Through this partnership FirstBank customers gain a unique advantage as their PayPal account will receive automatic verification and increased transaction limits, making it even easier to start making online or mobile payments.
According to FirstBank spokesperson, Folake Ani-Mumuney “The acceptance of FirstBank Cards for making PayPal payments is a significant boost to our continuous initiative to drive innovation in banking services and our promise to always put customers at the heart of our business. This partnership will provide convenience for our customers planning their summer shopping. FirstBank cards are accepted in over 200 countries and on millions of POS terminals and ATMs around the world. This partnership with PayPal provides further unique benefits to FirstBank customers,” she added. “We are delighted to be able to bring PayPal to all our customers in Nigeria in a 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 will only take a few minutes, as the customer has already been verified by FirstBank”, Folake stated.
[pull_quote_center]Millions of Nigerians already shop on websites in the US, UK or China, but many find their cards are rejected or have concerns about entering their credit card details on the website of a seller based overseas.[/pull_quote_center]
Commenting on the partnership, Efi Dahan, PayPal’s Regional Director for Africa and Israel, said; “Millions of Nigerians already shop on websites in the US, UK or China, but many find their cards are rejected or have concerns about entering their credit card details on the website of a seller based overseas. 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 the future as our partnership develops.” Dahan stated.
Once registered with PayPal, Nigerians have the option to pay for a variety of products and services online, thereby joining over 200 markets around the world who already use PayPal. PayPal can be used to pay for digital subscriptions, games, music or video services and for travel. To pay with PayPal, account holders provide sellers with his/her email address and a password. PayPal then authorizes the payment based on available funds and eligible purchases are covered by PayPal Buyer Protection.
I do not see any big deal about this partnership as i can already do all that Firstbank is offering with my GTBank master card. It would have been a big deal if they said i can move money from my Paypal account to my Firstbank account. As at now, it is just marketing hype. I do not see anything exclusive about this…