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BitPesa Review 2024: Scam or Legit?
Swen Keller
- URL: https://account.bitpesa.co/signin
- Headquarter: Nairobi, Kenya
- Year Founded: 2013
- Platform App: Desktop, Mobile
- No. of Cryptos: Bitcoin
- Fiats Available: KES, NGN, GHS, TZS, UGX, MAD
- Withdraw Method: Mobile Money, Bank Transfer
- Payment Method: Bank Transfer, Crypto
BitPesa Review: Our Opinion
Bitpesa is easy to use and is fully regulated. However, it doesn’t offer much beyond crypto to fiat money transfers within Africa.
It also supports a limited amount of digital currencies.
An Overview of BitPesa
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Nairobi Kenya, Bitpesa offers payment services and money transfers using cryptocurrency and converting the same to national currencies or fiat currencies.
Bitpesa offers wholesale cryptocurrency liquidity for companies and individuals across Africa and has arguably the deepest liquidity of similar technologies in the region.
The payment services solution has traded for more than half a billion dollars and is the first blockchain technology company to be licensed by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority.
Popular investors in Bitpesa include Pantera Capital, Bit Fury, Plug and Play, and Digital Currency Group.
Bitpesa has had its fair share of legal battles as the company was in court for the termination of its right to offer M-PESA by Safaricom as a facilitator of its money transfer services.
Pros
- Beginner-friendly
- It offers international money transfer services
- Fully regulated
Cons
- Limited features
- Limited crypto selection
BitPesa Review: Unique Features
International Money Transfers
A major outstanding feature of BitPesa is its facilitation of international payments. As a digital foreign exchange and payment platform, BitPesa leverages blockchain settlement to lower costs and increase the speed of business payments to and from frontier markets. It offers real-time settlements at wholesale exchange rates.
Unlike its competitors, BitPesa is a market-maker in every major African currency and enables traders in several African countries to trade and make business payments with the rest of the world.
Through Bitpesa’s international payment features, Nigerian traders and traders from other supported countries can pay suppliers in the United Arab Emirates and China.
The BitPesa API allows international remittance companies to send white-label payments to dozens of mobile money operators and bank networks across Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Senegal, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
BitPesa international money transfer is not the same as what is available with traditional banks as BitPesa facilitates transfers and enables users to send and quickly receive payments through the use of blockchain technology.
The use of blockchain by BitPesa eliminates the need for a third party in the processing of transactions. This enables transactions to be swiftly completed without any delays or any susceptibility to data breaches.
Unlike traditional banks, BitPesa is not limited in its operational coverage to a region or country, it works across borders and works with both local currencies and cryptocurrencies.
As stated earlier, making international transfers on BitPesa is easy.
To make international money transfers, you need to first create a BitPesa account and log in to your account, then do the following:
Go to your account dashboard and navigate to ” Send Money”
Click OK ” New Transaction”
Enter the amount you wish to send (You can input the amount in cryptocurrency or your local currency)
Next, enter the details of the recipient
Verify the information you provided and confirm the transaction.
Once this is done, the funds will be sent to the recipient.
Cryptocurrencies Available on BitPesa
Our first-hand observations during the testing phase indicated that Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency available on BitPesa.
BitPesa Fees
The digital foreign exchange and money transfer payment service Bitpesa charges an average remittance fee between 1 to 3% of the amount sent. Note that this fee is fixed regardless of the amount being sent.
BitPesa Payment Methods
Bitpesa supports bank transfer or cryptocurrency as its payment method. The most popular of which is Bitcoin. Users can send Bitcoin to other people in supported countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, etc. and it will be received in the recipient’s local bank or mobile wallet.
Note that Bitpesa doesn’t use a fixed exchange rate for money transfers but changes the rate based on the demand and supply of the particular national currency at the time.
BitPesa Review: Security
BitPesa is a secure platform with high-standard security practices.
BitPesa is licensed by the Federal Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom and the Bank of Spain.
Users’ information and data are encrypted and secured with firewalls.
Access to users’ files and controls of BitPesa structures is restricted to only a few individuals who have committed themselves to a confidentiality undertaking and who require access to the structure and files to fulfill their job responsibilities.
BitPesa also states that all transactions on its platform are secured and protected from any interference by third parties.
Users can also protect their accounts with security features like password protection, two-factor authentication, etc.
BitPesa Staking Rewards
Unfortunately, Bitpesa does not support the staking of cryptocurrencies as it is simply a blockchain technology that facilitates payments from cryptocurrency to fiat currency.
BitPesa Supported Countries
BitPesa is available in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana.
You can also send money to other countries like Senegal, Tanzania, Morocco, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
BitPesa does not accept users or support the sending of money to some countries like Afghanistan, Eritrea, Myanmar, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, Libya, etc.
Opening a Coinbase Account
To open a Bitpesa account go to https://account.bitpesa.co.
Next, tap on the “Sign Up Here” link beside ” Don’t have an account?”
Enter your company name, and email address, and then select a password.
Note that the password must have a capital letter, symbol, and letter to be valid.
Check the box that affirms you agree to Bitpesa’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Tap on” Create My Account”.
Bitpesa will send a verification link to your email address.
Go to your registered email address and then click on the link sent from Bitpesa.
You’ll be redirected to an email-confirmed page.
Tap on the “Login” button.
You’ll be redirected to a login page.
Enter your registered email address and the password you just created to log in.
Bitpesa will send a numerical verification code to your email address.
Enter the code on the login page to proceed.
That’s it! You’ve created your Bitpesa account.
However, to use the trading platform for money transfers you’ll need to undergo various verification phases.
Your data will be sent to the compliance team and they’ll let you know if your account has been approved or if they require more documents.
Trading Experience on BitPesa
From our direct engagement with Bitpesa, we have ascertained that it offers a basic trading experience.
It doesn’t provide features that you’d expect to see on crypto exchanges like instant buy-and-sell of cryptocurrencies, margin trading, spot trading, etc.
Rather, Bitpesa simply allows you to send cryptocurrency to people in supported countries and they’ll receive it in their local currency via mobile money or bank transfer.
That said, drawing from our practical trials with this blockchain technology company we also noticed that mobile money transfers are faster on Bitpesa than bank transfers, which may take more than 1 business day.
BitPesa Customer Support
BitPesa users can contact Bitpesa customer support via email at support@bitpesa.co for transaction-related issues and at info@bitpesa.co for general inquiries.
BitPesa also offers customer support via phone or WhatsApp in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria.
The customer support number for users in Nigeria is +234 908 206 5264.
Customer support via phone and WhatsApp is available between 9 am to 5:30 pm weekdays in Nigeria and other countries.
Information on the BitPesa website shows that any support request outside the above time should be done via online chat on the website or via email.
The average response time from the BitPesa customer support team is 24 hours.
Customer Satisfaction
Our team’s hands-on experience with this crypto exchange has shown that Bitpesa is a basic crypto technology platform best for crypto beginners.
It lacks advanced features that experienced traders may be interested in. It also offers limited cryptocurrencies and seems to focus more on facilitating international transfers with crypto.
Does Bitpesa Offer Education?
No, Bitpesa does not offer any form of cryptocurrency education to its users.
Is Bitpesa Right for You?
Bitpesa is right for you if you’re residing in Africa and need to make regional money transfers and mainly trading Bitcoin.
Final Thoughts
Bitpesa is a straightforward blockchain solution that’s easy to use and understand by both beginners and advanced users. However, it doesn’t offer much beyond crypto to fiat transactions and has a limited selection of cryptocurrencies.
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Bitpesa enables a sender to send cryptocurrency to a recipient and then converts the sent digital currency to the receiver’s local currency.
To buy Bitcoin on Bitpesa you’ll need to deposit your local currency on the platform via bank transfer and then use the funds deposited to buy Bitcoin.
Bitpesa was founded by Elizabeth Rossiello.
Bitpesa’s estimated annual revenue is $10.4 million annually.
We always try to provide the most accurate information available, and make sure our team follow through.
If you want to know more about our Crypto Exchanges Review Methodology follow the link below
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