PayPal has announced support for Ukraine with its plans to expand its payment services for Ukrainians. The payment service which commenced on Thursday will see that Ukrainian PayPal accounts have the ability to send and receive money from friends and family.
In a letter to the Ukrainian Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov dated March 17, the payments company reveals that Ukrainian account holders now have the ability to transfer money from their PayPal accounts to credit and debit cards, also to external bank accounts by linking an eligible Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card.
The payment company further said that “We believe this service will be helpful for people in Ukraine to receive money from their friends and relatives around the world.” PayPal also wrote that it is providing these advantages so “Ukrainian refugees in other countries, can receive money to use or withdraw in their current location.”
Prior to this time, the PayPal service available to Ukrainian users was only sending money internationally from their accounts. Users were not permitted receiving, says the company. According to the company’s spokesperson, Tom Hunter, the reason for this was only because “functionality varies by the market” based on “a number of factors.” Ukrainian customers were able to receive funds from friends and family in the US, Canada, UK, and other parts of Europe via PayPal’s cash pickup and prepaid mobile phone refill, according to a post from the company about its efforts in Ukraine. PayPal didn’t stop there, the payment company has also kick-started waiving transaction fees for remittances to Ukrainian accounts. This service is offered to both senders and recipients. This transaction waiver also applies to Xoom, PayPal’s global remittance platform, says the company via a blog post.
Money transferred from a PayPal account to a linked debit or credit card will make the funds available in the card’s local currency. Ukrainian users will be able to send and receive euros, US dollars, Canadian dollars and British pounds. This service offering is however temporary and will last from now through to the end of June, the company said.
Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov have taken to Twitter to say thank you to PayPal for supporting Ukraine. It’s worthy of note that the Minister has been actively reaching out to tech companies globally, seeking help for Ukraine and cutting off services to Russia. According to a letter he posted to Twitter, he had reached out to PayPal seeking expanded services within the country.