Embracing the change in online shopping & social networking

THE world is changing pretty fast - exponentially in many cases, particularly in the technology and online industries. It’s natural for anyone, regardless of age or creed, to feel overwhelmed by the library­ of choice. Laptops, iPads, notebooks, Kindles, iPhones, netbooks, iPods and gaming consoles are all on offer under different brands and with varying specifications. This is failing to mention the infinite range of smartphones.

The wearisome part is that most of these devices are able to do the same things - some better than others. They can all really be thought of as portable computers. Buying new gadgets­ is fun and exciting but can be stressful and daunting at the same time. Having them all is impractical, and once they are outdated, they will likely become useless junk a few years down the line.

The important things to ask oneself when considering getting that new device everyone is talking about are “do I need this device in my life?” or “how will this gadget add value to my life or improve the things I currently enjoy doing?”

Online Shopping

Some go as far as ordering their clothing and groceries online. Most would agree that these are things that we want to touch and see before purchase. Electronics, on the other hand, are certainly worth buying online.

Consider that when you shop in a computer or electronics store, salespeople are arguably hired to try to sell you the most expensive version of what you’re looking for. The products will have a store mark-up; stores need to pay to have the goods ordered, packaged and advertised. This all adds to the price of most electronics.

Online stores are able to cut out most of these extra costs. Online shopping websites, such as takealot.com and kalahari.net, often offer­ free shipping to your door for orders over certain amounts. We are able to read consumer or peer reviews and assess the ratings fellow consumers have given specific products. Other websites offer comparisons of similar products. And, with a bit of Googling, we can even find video reviews and unbiased write-ups to aid our decision-making.

Online Banking

There is really very little need these days to stand in a bank queue again. The transference of funds can all be done online via online banking and PayPal. If there are still banks that do not offer these services they won’t be around for long. The only thing to be cautious of is phishing - receiving a scam e-mail, for example, asking you to supply or “update” your banking details. A reputable bank will never ask such things of you via e-mail.

Social Networking

Then there is the plethora of social networking sites and services - Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Google Wave, blogs, forums and the lot. Social networking sites are in a constant state of flux and new ones will emerge while others may wither and die.

The world of social networking should not be feared, but rather embraced for all its potential. This is now largely how people communicate worldwide, how companies recruit new employees, how business contacts are formed and how we consume our news and media.

The best bet is to stick with the tried and tested. With any free social networking site or service, we may have to deal with copious amounts of advertising, but this is a fairly small price to pay. Social networks are inevitably under the watchful eyes of their users. If any social networking site were to seriously violate any human right, or start charging users unfair amounts, they would soon be replaced.

Obviously one needs to be careful with what information you decide to provide on social networking websites, and this does not only pertain to profile information. “Liking” or becoming a fan of a particular brand or product might see you receiving related ads or promotions for a long time to come.

Embrace the change: online shopping and social networking

It is also advisable to never defame someone on a social network. This can come back to haunt you. Jobs have been lost and relationships have been broken as a result. Understand that whatever you do online effectively creates an ongoing online record of yourself.

But again, the inevitable growth of the Internet and development of technology should not be feared. There will always be those who will try to take advantage and scam us. In fact, nearly two thirds of our beloved Internet is comprised of spam. But the more you practice being a savvy online user, the better equipped you will be to filter out the bad and make the most of the good.

The Consumer Protection Act guards us and I can say with confidence that the greater good will always prevail online. There is much to learn and discover as the Internet continues to bring our world closer together. It is my opinion that its fast-changing pace is both exciting and full of great potential. Embrace and work with it and it will ultimately enrich your life.

PAYPAL: No more need to expose your credit card or banking details

BUYING and selling goods and services online is fast becoming the preferred way to shop and conduct business this century, and it recently became easier with the introduction of PayPal to South Africa.

This enables South Africans to buy from and sell to PayPal’s global customer base of more than 81 million active accounts in 190 markets around the world in 21 different currencies. South Africa is the 190th country to get access
to PayPal accounts and it’s about damn time too!

What is PayPal?

To put it simply, PayPal is a safe and easy way to perform online transactions without exposing your credit card or bank account number. It can be thought of as an extension of your bank account that allows you to send and receive money globally 24/7.

It has always been possible to make foreign payments, but now South Africans are getting a chance to cash in by being able to sell goods themselves within the global eCommerce marketplace. There are currently 200 million people that use PayPal to send and receive money today and for good reason.

You can use a PayPal account to:

• Receive payments in 190 countries.
• Checkout quickly at hundreds of online stores.
• Shop at online merchants or shops in 67 countries.
• Make or receive payments for goods and services online.
• Pay for things and send money without sharing your financial information.

How do I get a PayPal account?

To open a South African PayPal account, visit www.paypal.com and follow the instructions provided. You’ll be asked to fill in your details and link your credit or cheque card to your new PayPal account.

A small charge ($1,95) will then be debited from your account, which will be refunded (in two to three days) once you supply a four-digit reference number that is provided with this transaction to PayPal. This verification method is a security precaution that ensures that only you can access your PayPal account.

FNB’s Top Up and Withdraw service

Currently PayPal is exclusive to First National Bank customers, but no doubt it will soon be offered by other major banks as well. It is also likely that other PayPal options and services will become available once more South Africans get on board and become comfortable with using PayPal.

One particular offering is FNB’s exclusive Top Up and Withdraw service, which allows FNB customers to top up and withdraw funds from a PayPal account via a qualifying FNB account. FNB Customers can simply open a PayPal account and link it to a qualified FNB account and receive PayPal payments in 21 different currencies. FNB will then convert the currency to South African rands once the money is transferred into their accounts. No more lost cheques in the post.

How do I register for this?

To register for such PayPal services you’ll need a South African PayPal account, a qualifying FNB bank account and access to FNB Online Banking. (The following steps are specific to FNB and may differ for other banks offering PayPal services).

Step by step, you will need to:

1. Have a qualifying FNB bank account (FNB cheque, savings or transmission acc).
2. Have an FNB Online Banking profile.
3. Register a South African PayPal account on www.paypal.com
4. Verify your PayPal account on www.paypal.com
5. Login to your FNB Online Banking profile; register for this service and link your PayPal account to your FNB Online Banking profile.

Qualifying FNB accounts include most FNB savings, cheque and transmission accounts. When completing a FNB Top Up or Withdraw with PayPal, a list of all your qualifying FNB accounts that can be used for this service will be displayed.

Remember that they will have to be linked to your FNB Online Banking profile in order for them to be displayed. Also note that a credit card account is not a qualifying account for this service.

How do I withdraw and transfer money into my PayPal account?

FNB’s Top Up and Withdraw services allow you to transfer or withdraw funds from a qualifying FNB bank account into your PayPal account. To do this, simply login to FNB Online Banking and select the “PayPal Services” menu option.

Once you have registered for the service, you can transfer funds (in rands) from your qualifying FNB account into your PayPal account in United States dollars, which can then be used to make purchases from PayPal merchants worldwide.

Note that when completing the FNB Top Up service you will be required to disclose the purpose of your transaction and provide contact information to ensure that you comply with all South African Reserve Bank regulations. A Top Up of funds from FNB to a PayPal account may only be used for the specified reason.

It is also important to remember that according to South African Reserve Bank exchange-control regulations, all funds received into your PayPal account must be withdrawn within 30 days of receipt.

Fees: what does it cost?

FNB charges a transaction commission of 1,5% for each Top Up or Withdraw transaction using a PayPal account. This commission is calculated on the rand equivalent of the U.S. dollar amount requested.

An exchange rate is quoted by FNB on all rand/U.S. dollar transactions and may vary for Top Up and Withdraw transactions.

Certain PayPal transactions may also attract certain fees. Visit www.paypal.com for more information regarding any hidden costs.

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INTERNET: The Simple Life (online)

TECHNOLOGY is often blamed for complicating our lives instead of simplifying them. But there are ways to harness the power of technology to achieve your dream of an ordered, less chaotic life. Natalie Thayer, GM of MWEB, offers some advice on how to get the balance right:

• Go grocery shopping online
  Instead of wandering the supermarket aisles, have food, wine and other household goods delivered to your doorstep. Many retailers including Woolworths and Pick ‘n Pay, have online shopping facilities which can save you money, petrol and travel time.
  
• Make phone calls over the Internet
  Internet phone services, like MTalk Webcall, allow you to make national, international and cell phone calls very cheaply – and sometimes for free. An ideal alternative to a traditional landline, Webcall is easy to use and you only need a broadband Internet connection.

Transfer money, pay bills and bank online
If you haven’t already, set yourself up with Internet banking. You can move money from one account to another, do direct deposits and pay your accounts online so you don’t have to go into a store or stand in bank queues longer than the Nile to settle your accounts.

• Use the Internet for school projects and homework
  Instead of a shelf full of outdated encyclopaedias, get your kids to use the Internet for school project research and even exam revision. It will save you money and trips to the library. A useful site for students is sparknotes.com

 

Upgrade your Internet connection
If you are still using a painfully slow dial-up connection, save yourself time and frustration by upgrading to a broadband connection like ADSL. Faster connection speeds and a fixed monthly fee will let you rediscover the joys of the Internet. You’ll also avoid tying up your phone line for hours at a time.

“The Internet is not only a source of information but also a great way to get your daily tasks done, saving you time and petrol money. The careful use of technology can help simplify life - you just need to choose the technology you really need to achieve your goals.”
— Natalie Thayer, GM of MWEB

— issued on behalf of MWEB

Related post: • Online shopping tips • Your online shopping guide

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MYWITNESS: Cheap & simple cellular services

ONLINE banking, mobile shopping, cellphone blogging and much more are all readily available via several services. Yet all of these become a headache for anyone who was not a part of the ‘cool crowd’ at school. Wouldn’t life be a little bit simpler if all of these were available via a single service? Gmobile has done just that with the release of MyWitness.

MyWitness (which is fully WAP enabled and thus fully accessible from your cellphone) is a server-based platform that provides a very cheap and very user-friendly way of performing a large portion of your online activity – all from your cellphone. It is purely server-based and operates independently from other networks. What this means is that it offers its own unique service and, more importantly, charges its own rates – which is far less than the 40% average that the major cellular networks charge. SMS’s can be sent at 25cents, MMS’s 65cents.

A popular ‘everyday user’ appeal of MyWitness is Gchat, which has the same functionality of Mxit minus the cost – it’s free. The only charge applicable is the 2cents per kilobit of data downloaded to your phone (i.e. being online via your phone), which is regulated by Icasa.

Usually when browsing the web from your mobile information is temporarily stored to your phone to increase speed etc., however the network(s) you use have weaseled their way into charging you for this according to their own rates. The advantage of platforms such as MyWitness is that you are only charged for the data that you actually choose to download. They are able to avoid the sneaky charges mentioned by simply providing access to data.

To put this cost-effectiveness into perspective: one user in Thailand chatted to his wife in South Africa daily using G-chat over the course of 12 days. His entire communication bill? Less than R1 - and that’s because he had to send three SMS’s to his wife (at 25cents each) to tell her to go online. Furthermore, G-chat is compatible with most major IM’s such as Google Talk, so others that you wish to chat to need not be G-chat users.

Other features of MyWitness include being able to ‘shop’ for airtime and cellular related products such as wallpapers and ringtones, Google search the internet, receive the latest news headlines via RSS feeds, share audio files, video and pictures, upload content to your MyWitness blog or website, and do online banking.

If you are not familiar with mobile banking yet it is basically internet banking via a mobile platform (i.e. you use a phone instead of a computer). Registration requires an ID number which automatically creates a personal bank (debit) account. The currency on MyWitness is measured in Goins, which is regulated world wide. In South African currency (ZAR), one Goin is equal to one cent.

If you find blogging sites such as Blogger or WordPress too much of a headache, MyWitness provides the simplest way to set up and maintain your own blog or website. The visual appeal of these sites are really not that bad by beginner standards, and the simplicity of the whole thing is by far the no.1 advantage about it.

Each MyWitness user is provided with 100megs of compressed storage space. This may not seem like a lot but what’s great is that the platform automatically compresses data for you while it travels through the network. In other words there is no need to worry about the technicalities of file sizes. Images (JPEGS & GIFS) for example, are compressed to about 6k - irrelevant of their original size. Also, the original file is restored to its full glory and size when it reaches the other side – without any loss in quality.

The cellphone is fast becoming the ultimate all-in-one tool. This is your chance to jump on the technology bandwagon simply and cheaply. Just remember to get up and exercise once in a while!

Signing up for a MyWitness account will cost you R1.50 and can be done online (from a computer) at http://go.mywitness.co.za. You can also watch a video demonstration online and find additional information and set up instructions at www.witness.co.za.

Video: MyWitness user's speak

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