Continuing our, ah, continuing discussion of PayPal alternatives in sub-Saharan Africa, a new service just launched in the States, allowing credit card-less consumers to pay online. Like PayPal, MoneyBookers, Google Checkout, and so on, eBillme is a payment option that needs to be enabled by site owners.
How does eBillme work?
- Go to your favorite online store and add items to your cart as usual.
- At checkout, select eBillme as your payment option.
- eBillme will email you an invoice.
- You can pay your eBillme invoice online via your bank account, or at one of 75,000 walk in locations.
- Once you’ve paid your invoice, eBillme pays the online store, who then ships your items as usual.
As is, the system could work for Africans without credit cards because they allow payment via MoneyGram (an alternative to Western Union), available all over the world. You still have to pay all of the fees associated with wiring money, but it’s a viable way to buy online.
Their website gives no information about the availability of the service to merchants outside of the United States, but a similar service could solve many of the problems associated with credit cards and e-commerce in sub-Saharan Africa. Certainly, the service bills itself as a way for online merchants to access the (American) unbanked, of which there are still millions.
Systems like this already exist throughout Africa in an informal way. How many expats and Africans with foreign bank accounts find themselves using their credit cards and, yes, PayPal to make online purchases for their friends, including web hosting and domains? What lacks is formalization—an “official” relationship with banks and merchants that allows an enterprising entrepreneur to serve as a middle man.
Who’s going to step up to the plate?
About the author: Theresa Carpenter Sondjo is an entrepreneur and web developer. She lives in Cotonou, where she and her partner run
People Online. Their mission is simple:
la mise en ligne du Bénin. Follow her on Twitter at
@theresac.
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eBillMe, Another PayPal Alternative and a Great Idea Waiting to be Adapted
Continuing our, ah, continuing discussion of PayPal alternatives in sub-Saharan Africa, a new service just launched in the States, allowing credit card-less consumers to pay online. Like PayPal, MoneyBookers, Google Checkout, and so on, eBillme is a payment option that needs to be enabled by site owners.
How does eBillme work?
As is, the system could work for Africans without credit cards because they allow payment via MoneyGram (an alternative to Western Union), available all over the world. You still have to pay all of the fees associated with wiring money, but it’s a viable way to buy online.
Their website gives no information about the availability of the service to merchants outside of the United States, but a similar service could solve many of the problems associated with credit cards and e-commerce in sub-Saharan Africa. Certainly, the service bills itself as a way for online merchants to access the (American) unbanked, of which there are still millions.
Systems like this already exist throughout Africa in an informal way. How many expats and Africans with foreign bank accounts find themselves using their credit cards and, yes, PayPal to make online purchases for their friends, including web hosting and domains? What lacks is formalization—an “official” relationship with banks and merchants that allows an enterprising entrepreneur to serve as a middle man.
Who’s going to step up to the plate?