How a freelancer in Kenya gets paid by clients in the United States: USD account details, holding US dollars, and cashing out in shillings

Short answer. Open a Storspay business account as a sole trader, and Storspay issues USD account details in your own business name. Your client in the United States pays them by ACH or wire exactly as they would pay any local supplier. Your dollars stay dollars in your Storspay balance until you decide to move them — no forced conversion, no holding fee. When you want the money on the ground in Kenya, cash out to a Kenyan bank account or mobile-money wallet at 2% all-in — on your schedule, not your client's.

Freelancers in Kenya working for American agencies, startups, platforms, healthcare programmes and NGOs usually hit the same three problems: the client will only pay a bank account in the freelancer's own name, international transfers arrive short and late, and whatever does arrive is converted out of US dollars before it can be useful. This guide covers what Storspay gives you, what it costs, and how to start.

Who this is for — and who it is not for

Storspay is for businesses, and a sole trader counts as one. If you are a freelancer or sole proprietor trading in your own name, you open a business account of the sole-trader type. You can be paid by companies abroad, and you can pay other businesses on Storspay — including other sole traders — for work they have done for you.

What Storspay is not is a personal money-transfer service. We do not open personal accounts, and every payment has to be a business transaction: an invoice, a contract, work delivered. Money to family, gifts and personal transfers are not what this is, and we would rather say so now than at verification.

Account details in your own name

US payers send by ACH or wire to dollar account details in your own business name. Storspay issues USD account details in your own business name once your account is verified, so the details you hand your client match the name on your contract. You send those details once; your client sets you up as a normal American payee.

Holding US dollars

Money is held in the currency it arrives in. Storspay holds US dollars and euros today. Pounds and Canadian dollars are converted to US dollars on arrival at the rate shown on the deposit.

Getting the money out

• To a Kenyan account. Cash out to an M-Pesa number, or a bank account number and bank — 2% all-in, same business day, with any local delivery fee shown before you confirm.
• To a European bank account. If you hold euros and want them in a European account in your name, a SEPA payout costs 0.75% with a €4.50 minimum with no conversion at all.
• To another business on Storspay. Free and instant, in whatever currency you pay from.

What "Storspay to Storspay" means

If the business you are paying is also on Storspay — a company or another sole trader — the payment is free and instant, and they receive the same currency you paid from, with no conversion in between. That is how a freelancer pays a subcontractor, or an agency settles with the designer it briefed. If they are not on Storspay, it is an ordinary payout: their local bank account or mobile-money wallet, 2% all-in, with any local delivery fee shown on the same line before you confirm.

Either way the payment has to be a business one. Storspay moves money between business accounts against work, invoices and supply — not between private individuals.

What it costs

Say a client in the United States pays you US$2,000 for a month's work. Storspay charges 2% all-in — US$40 — so you keep US$1,960 in your USD balance. Cash the whole of it out to a Kenyan account and it becomes about KSh254,359 at the mid-market rate on the day of writing, September 2026, with any local delivery fee shown before you confirm. The same US$2,000 arriving by international wire typically loses US$120 to fees and spread and takes three to five days.

How to start as a sole trader

1. Create the account and choose Sole trader — "you are the business, trading in your own name".
2. Tell us what your business does, in one line. It is a real question, not a formality; some activities go to a human for review.
3. Verify once with an ID document and a selfie. Dollar account details are issued when you are verified.
4. Ask for USD details on the Get paid screen when you need them. For USD we ask for one signed client contract or a recent invoice — proof you actually trade with a payer in the United States. One document, once.

Questions we get

My client says they will not pay a third-party account. Does that rule me out?

No — that is the point of this. The account details are issued in your own business name, not in Storspay's, so they satisfy exactly that clause.

Do I need a registered company in Kenya?

No. A sole trader trading in their own name is a business type on Storspay. If you do have a registered company, take the registered-business path instead.

Can I pay someone else from this balance?

Yes — suppliers, subcontractors and other businesses, including other freelancers who are on Storspay. A Storspay-to-Storspay payment is free and instant. It has to be a business payment against work or an invoice; Storspay does not carry personal transfers or open personal accounts.

How long does the first payment take?

Verification is usually the same day. Once your client sends the ACH or wire, the credit and the cash-out both land the same business day.

Run your own number on the calculator, or read how getting paid works.