PayPal, the famous online payment platform that offers advantages for both individuals and businesses, is coming to Pakistan – but there is a catch.
Pakistan’s interim IT and telecom minister Dr Umar Saif has announced that the US-based money giant is set to establish its presence in the South Asian nation through a strategic partnership with an existing international payment gateway.
The minister said the company will operate indirectly through this collaboration, in what he terms a major development for the growing freelance community.
He said Paypal’s arrival in Pakistan is set to revolutionize remittances by routing them through PayPal via third-party service. Dr Saif said PayPal is arriving at a breakthrough for the freelance community and e-commerce experts, who have been advocating for its integration into the Pakistani market for quite some time.
Contrary to claims made by the caretaker minister, it was reported that PayPal is not directly starting operations in crisis-hit Pakistan, stating that PayPal would operate indirectly through a partnership with an existing payment service.
The catch is that the new move will not allow Pakistani users to create PayPal accounts directly from Pakistan while users in Pakistan won’t be able to open a PayPal account through Payoneer.
Bringing PayPal to the country remains a hot topic, especially due to the demand from freelancers.
Earlier, PayPal refused to start direct operations in Pakistan due to issues like licensing restrictions, money laundering, FATF restrictions, exchange controls, and data privacy.
