Kelvin from Tanzania is on a tight budget, but he wants to enroll in an Online TOEFL Course, even though he does not have a bank account or a credit card.

Kelvin, who is a resident of Tanzania, wants to enroll in an Online TOEFL Course. However, like my services and educational sites on the Internet, he is required to use Pay Pal to subscribe to the course called “The 7-Step System to Pass the TOEFL iBT.”  To make matters worse, Kelvin has no bank account nor does he have a credit card.   What is he to do?

First of all,  using Western Union, he can wire transfer the required payment to the owner of his new TOEFL course.  Luckily for him, Western Union is located in hundreds of countries all around the world. So, all he has to do is to bring some cash into a store which accepts Western Union payments.  Then, he makes the required payment, stipulating the first and last name of the recipient to whom it is intended.  After he makes the payment, he will be given an MTCN number, which he must E-mail to the owner of his TOEFL course, who, although living in the United States many 1000’s of miles from his house, will be able to also go into a store and retrieve the money that Kelvin had wire transferred.  The only drawback is that, if he has a dispute with his Online TOEFL Course, he will not have buyer protections, thereby preventing him from getting a refund.

Second of all, Kelvin can add money to his Pay Pal account using Green Dot – Money Pak.  To do this, he will need to find a Walmart, CVS Pharmacy, 7 Eleven, Rite Aid, or Walgreens. He will need to go into the store, purchase a Money Pak, and then add this money to his Pay Pal account.  This money, from which he will be able to draw to make online payments to 1000’s of online stores, will appear in his Pay Pal account.  Of course, if  Walmart, CVS Pharmacy, 7 Eleven, Rite Aid, or Walgreens are not located in Tazania, he will not be able to use this method of payment.  Finally, unlike Western Union, which does not offer any buyer protection, Pay Pal DOES offer buyer protection, and, if he files a dispute with the owner of his Online TOEFL Course, he will be able to get a refund.

Since Kelvin’s country does NOT have a Walmart, CVS Pharmacy, 7 Eleven, Rite Aid, or Walgreens, which are United States-based stores, he will need to use Western Union. Therefore, before making his required payment, Kelvin will need to make sure that his Online TOEFL Course is a reputable company. It may even be a good idea to ask the owner of the course if he can get access to the Online TOEFL Course so that he can make sure it has everything he needs to get a high TOEFL score. Also, Kelvin can read some of the testimonials from former students who subscribed to the course to further evaluate the quality of instruction he expects to get.