Chura Limited has been around since 2013, and the company has made significant strides in the fintech industry. Starting off as an enterprise to enhance network interoperability issues, the company chose this route thanks to the difficulties people face when using more than one mobile operator. In fact, the philosophy of the company is built around this issue where people use multiple SIM cards because one offers better data and voice services than the other, making it difficult to rely on one network.
To solve some of these issues, Chura offers a single platform for users to buy airtime using from any operator. Users can send money to several phone addresses with one click, in addition to converting airtime to mobile money.
Some time back, the company introduced Chura Money that allowed users to withdraw cash from their PayPal accounts to any local-based mobile money platform. Also, the product offered a platform to instantly transfer funds from a debit or credit card to M-PESA. However, M-PESA to PayPal services were plagued with glitches and based on the information available on their website, the issue is yet to be resolved. Another issue that has far been raised about the link between M-PESA and PayPal is transaction charges. However, the problem is the same across similar products, and the bottom line is that PayPal charges have always been prohibitively expensive.
Complaints and glitches aside, Chura has been working on an in-house virtual debit card, and it is officially available to consumers. Looking at its services, it does not stray from the norm as it offers solutions that debit cards are supposed to render. For example, it is a globally accepted card, and can be topped up using M-PESA. For this reason, users can shop online from any store, and is accepted on Amazon, Uber, eBay, Netflix, Facebook ads, domain names, web hosting and online marketing services at GoDaddy, to mention a few.
The card can also be used to top up PayPal accounts via M-PESA.
You can request for the debit card here.