How to Receive and Convert Foreign Currency to Your Local Bank Account

There are diverse ways of receiving foreign currency or getting paid, it can be through Western Union, through PayPal system, through Bitcoin Account, through Phone Bill, through your bank card, bank account. But for fast and easy payment, we shall be considering the PayPal System.

Yes, PayPal works in Nigeria, but with significant limitations on receiving payments. A personal PayPal account in Nigeria is "send-only," meaning you can make purchases and send money, but you cannot receive funds. To receive money, Nigerian users must set up a business account and use specific workarounds.

To use a personal account, you must link a Nigerian-issued Visa or Mastercard that is enabled for international transactions. Verve cards are not accepted.

For receiving payments (freelancers and businesses)

Freelancers and businesses in Nigeria can receive payments, but only by using third-party services and workarounds.

*Use a PayPal Business account with a third-party payment gateway:

Flutterwave: A popular method is to integrate PayPal as a payment option on your Flutterwave-powered website or payment link.

How it works: International customers pay via PayPal through your Flutterwave checkout. The funds go to your Flutterwave account, from which you can withdraw them to your Nigerian bank account.

*Use a virtual dollar account:

Grey or Cenoa: Services like Grey or Cenoa offer virtual USD, GBP, or EUR bank accounts.

How it works: You link the virtual foreign bank account to your PayPal Business account and receive funds into it. From there, you can transfer the money to your Nigerian bank account.

*Third-party exchangers: You can sell your PayPal funds to trusted local exchangers and receive naira in return, though this option carries more risk.

How PayPal Works

You do not get a "PayPal account number" to receive payments; your email address serves as your PayPal account ID. However, if you are in a country where PayPal allows direct bank deposits, such as the US, you can find a routing and account number for direct deposit purposes within your PayPal Wallet, but this option is generally not available for Nigerian accounts. For Nigerian users, linking a debit or credit card is the primary way to send and receive funds.

You can use a service like Flutterwave, Grey, Payoneer, to enable PayPal payments for your business. In this post we will be focusing on using Payoneer for receiving payment.

For Sending and Receiving Funds in Nigeria:

Use your email address:

Your registered email address is your PayPal account identifier for sending and receiving payments.

Link a card:

You'll need to link a debit or credit card (a Visa or Mastercard) from a Nigerian bank to your PayPal account to verify it and conduct transactions.

Use a payment processor:

For businesses, services like Flutterwave integrate with PayPal, allowing merchants to enable PayPal payments from their merchant dashboard.

For Direct Bank Deposits (Generally Not Available in Nigeria):

Log in to your PayPal account: on a desktop or mobile device.

Navigate to your Wallet: or click on a "more" or "transfer money" option.

Look for "Direct Deposit" or "See your deposit info": to find routing and account numbers for countries that support this feature.

Enter these details: into a bank's system if you are in a supported country to send or receive direct deposits.

*Transfer Money from Paypal to Payoneer*

You cannot directly transfer money from PayPal to Payoneer; instead, you must link your Payoneer receiving account to your PayPal account and then transfer funds from PayPal to the linked bank account. This process involves getting your Payoneer account details, linking them to your PayPal account as a bank account, verifying the link with small deposits, and then initiating a withdrawal from PayPal to Payoneer.

Steps to Transfer Money from PayPal to Payoneer:

1. Get your Payoneer Bank Account Details:

Log in to your Payoneer account.

Navigate to Get Paid and select Receiving Accounts.

If you don't have a receiving account in the desired currency and country, click on the Request Accounts button.

Select the desired currency and country, then submit your request.

Once approved, click on the account to view its banking details, including the routing number and account number.

2. Link Your Payoneer Account to PayPal:

Log in to your PayPal account.

Go to your wallet or the money page.

Under Banks and cards, select Link a new bank account.

Choose the option to link a USD or other suitable bank account.

Enter the routing number and account number you obtained from Payoneer.

Confirm and link the account.

3. Verify the Bank Account:

PayPal will send two small, unannounced deposits to your Payoneer account to verify the link.

Check your Payoneer account or bank statement for these deposits.

Enter the amounts of these two deposits into PayPal to confirm the account.

4. Transfer Funds from PayPal to Payoneer:

Once the Payoneer account is verified and linked, return to the money or wallet page in your PayPal account.

Click on Transfer Funds or Transfer Money.

Select the verified Payoneer account as the destination for your transfer.

Enter the amount you wish to transfer, review the transfer fees and exchange rates, and confirm the transaction.

The funds will then be sent from your PayPal account to your Payoneer balance, though it may take a few business days.