making online payments in kenya with the kcb general purpose visa card
The KCB general purpose visa card is your friend and best option to make online payments in kenya. Forget about paypal. You will waste your time with it. Although paypal is the most convenient and popular method of making and receiving online payments worldwide, it’s not accepted in Africa with the exception of south Africa. This is a total setback to anyone who is interested in starting an online business in Kenya as you may most likely need a payment solution that you can use to buy what you may need and get paid by clients but we have to move on and find alternatives to paypal in Kenya. Credit cards would have been an alternative to PayPal in Kenya but are also not popularly used.
Sometimes back when i was a bit new to this industry of internet payments and the online world i wanted to purchase something from a certain online site but unfortunately i couldn't do it. They either required a paypal account or a credit card which were both out of my reach. At this point I wondered what I could do in order to purchase the said item which I needed badly. After doing some research on the types of online payments available in Kenya I came to know the kcb (Kenya commercial bank) general purpose visa card.
So what is the kcb all purpose visa card and what are its benefits?
The kcb all purpose visa card is a special prepaid visa card that enables you to make purchases over the internet and mail order transactions of up to sh. 50,000. It serves the purpose of a normal credit card but the only difference is that you can only use with a pre-loaded money (you can’t overspend. You will only be limited to the amount of money that is in your card account). The card can also be used to withdraw money from over 24 million visa branded outlets around the world. Locally you can use it to purchase from supermarkets, retail shops and petrol stations. Also if you are doing an online business in Kenya or are intending to start one, you don't want to miss out on this special card. It can do for you what all other local cards can't do for you.
How do i apply for the kcb general purpose visa card?
Applying for and getting this card is easy whether you have an account with kcb or not. Simply visit any kcb branch near you countrywide with a copy of your national id card, a passport size photo and a joining fee of ksh. 1000. You will then be given a form to fill in with your details and submit for the card to be processed. Within two weeks you will be able to get your card plus a pin to use with it. Once you claim the card it’s required you call the kcb customer care staff at the card centre (located at sarit centre, westlands)on 3749091/53/38 to activate it. Having done that your card is now ready to be used for paying with anything you can imagine of. Just go ahead and start your online purchasing adventure (I mean there are no restrictions. You can purchase with it anything you may need that is available in an online store.)
how do i put money on this card?
Putting money on this card is easy. Just go to your nearest kcb branch and you will only need to use the normal cash deposit slips to indicate the amount you want to put in the card. In the place of account number you will put the 16 digit card number. You will also put in the name on the card (your names) in the place of account name. That’s it. Thanks to the guys at kencom and the card centre.
