A question that we get asked quite a bit on our @AskPayPal Twitter handle (and sometimes here on the forums) is, “When is PayPal coming to (insert country here)?” The quick answer is “We don’t know but stay tuned”. But of course there is a deeper answer, and as that’s going to take far more than 140 characters, I’ve decided to create this post as a better explanation to all of those who want PayPal but can’t have PayPal.
If you go to www.PayPal.com/worldwide you’ll be able to see all the countries that we operate in. And there’s a bunch, but I’ll draw your attention to the fact that not every country can do the same things. Some countries can do everything, some can only send money, some can’t receive money, so on and so forth. A lot of this comes from various regulations in those countries as well as regulations here in the U.S. In a perfect world, we’d offer all the services we have in every nation on the planet. But our world is far from perfect, and due to the varying international requirements, there are just some things that we’re not going to be able to do. That’s not to say that at some point we won’t be able to work our way through everything and get services in there, but it’s one of those things that can take years to happen.
**Update** We have recent news articles showing that we are working on providing services to more countries as well as information on the hurdles that we must sometimes face to provide service.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21567523
http://www.wamda.com/2013/02/paypal-answers-your-questions-when-where-and-how-will-it-expand-in-the-...
In closing, we want to provide service. It’s kinda what we do. And we’re looking all the time at new markets to grow into. So if we’re not there yet, please be patient as I’m sure we’re working on it. 🙂
Andy
