One of the most popular online money transfer and payment services is finally available in Macedonia and Montenegro, where online shopping leaves much room for improvement.

People in the two Balkan countries will be able to use PayPal services as of this week, the company announced.

The entry of PayPal to Macedonia and Montenegro forms part of an expansion of services to ten new countries across the world.

“PayPal has been going through a period of reinvention, refreshing many of its services to make them easier to use on mobile (phones), allowing us to expand into fast-developing markets,” Rupert Keeley, the head of PayPal for Europe, told Reuters.

Initially, PayPal will only offer “send money” services for consumers to pay for goods and services at PayPal-enabled merchant sites but will not offer peer-to-peer transactions that allow people to send money to each other.

Macedonia and Montenegro, where Internet shopping remains a minority pasttime, have been trying to get PayPal for years, hoping its entry would boost online trade.

Latest data from Macedonia’s State Statistical Office show that only 15 per cent of Macedonians purchase goods online.

With many consumer websites only offering payments through PayPal, Macedonians and Montenegrins have been restricted to using sites where they can purchase goods and services on credit and debit cards.

“This is great news indeed. At least in some areas we will now be part of the ‘normal’ world” Elena Sazdanovska, a 26-year-old Skopje resident, told Balkan Insight.

“It was frustrating not being able to use services that are freely available in other parts of the world,” Martin Taneski, a 24-year-old IT graduate from Skopje, said.

News of PayPal’s arrival comes after the service expanded last year to neighboring Serbia, a country in a similar situation when it comes to online shopping.

The PayPal system was founded in the US in 1998 and has been owned by eBay since 2002. It has been available in Europe since 2004.

Other European countries that are part of PayPal’s latest expansion include Belarus, Moldova, and Monaco.  Four African nations, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Zimbabwe are also getting PayPal, as well as Paraguay.

Source: Balkaninsight