Chris Meistre

After using Paypal’s SA version (thanks to FNB) for a couple of weeks, the time came to make my first withdrawal.  I wondered what the experience would be like, and bumped into problems immediately.

I logged into my FNB account, went to the Paypal options and selected the Withdrawal option.  I followed all the prompts, up to the point where you are supposed to be redirected to Paypal’s website to confirm the transaction.  Nothing happened from here, it just stood still.  I had a look at the Javascript code, and it looked like it didn’t try and execute the command.  So I logged off, and went through the whole process again, just in case there was perhaps a connection dropped during the transaction.  Again, nothing.

Then I do what I normally do when I get these types of problems, I try another web browser.  It’s probably worth noting that I was using Chrome, and then tried Firefox.  With Firefox everything worked as it was supposed to.  Process completed and now we wait to see how long it takes for the money to reflect in my FNB account.

5 days later the money was finally in my account.  This is a step in the right direction, but I really do hope that they start to speed things up!

Strange thing was during the withdrawal process, I was given a $ to R conversion rate, and had 4 minutes to either accept or reject it!  But it takes 5 days to get the money!

FNB released a FAQ list for Paypal SA users. I’m just highlighting a few that were important for me:

What is Paypal?

Paypal is a payment system used throughout the world. It is used to either pay for items or services or receive payment for items and services. It makes a transaction saver because it puts a system between you and your credit card.

You use your credit card, or any other bank account, to Topup your Paypal account. Using this credit you can then purchase items over the Internet without anyone ever knowing your credit card details. You can then also use Paypal’s Resolution Centre to dispute any items or receive refunds if you do not receive the items as advertised.

By using it as a Merchant, you can accept payment into your Paypal account from your clients, and then Withdraw the funds at a later stage.

FNB has a Topup and Withdraw service that is available within their Online Banking

This allowed you to either Topup your Paypal SA account from one of your FNB accounts, or Withdraw money from your Paypal SA account to one of your FNB accounts.
NOTE that it is ONLY available through FNB Online Banking.

How to you link FNB accounts to Paypal?

First off, you need a cheque, savings or transmissions account with FNB.
You also need to be registered with FNB’s Online Banking service.
Before you can link your accounts to your Paypal account, you obviously need a Paypal SA account.
Once you log into your Online Banking, you’ll see there is a link on your left hand side for Paypal under Accounts. Click this and just simply follow the prompts.

Business and/or Personal

You can use Paypal SA for either your business and/or personal use.

FNB Bank Charges

Besides your normal monthly charges on your account, FNB will also take 1.5% of the value you Topup or Withdraw. According to their website, this is calculated on the Rand equivalent of the transaction.
FNB has a Terms and Condition Document that all Paypal SA transactions must adhere to.

Complete FNB FAQ List

The complete FNB Paypal SA FAQ List

For a long time we in South Africa have struggled to get ways for people from all over the world to pay us for our products or services we sell online. I do a lot of freelance software development for people outside of South Africa, and there has always been the problem of getting paid. Not because they didn’t want to pay, but because getting money into my account has always been so damn difficult.

The most popular and safest payment system in the world is Paypal. South Africans could always register a Paypal account, link their credit card to it, and then purchase items with it. However, you could not receive money to your Paypal account.

Most of the time it was just easier handling the project through RentACoder, but that meant paying them a commission on the money I received. There have been times when I couldn’t sign up for certain affiliate systems because they only supported Paypal.

A couple of weeks ago I read about FNB deciding to launch Paypal SA. I have been waiting in anticipation. Today, Paypal SA was finally launched. A few minutes after it being official, I logged into my FNB account and linked my account to Paypal. Within a few minutes my Paypal SA account was up and running.

Now I just need people to pay money into my account

A few things worry me about this Paypal SA & FNB situation we find ourselves in. As with Eskom, Telkom, and various other monopolies we’ve seen in South Africa, having FNB with a monopoly of Paypal SA at this point in time can only lead to problems. Already FNB is running a campaign to get people to switch over to them by using this form. I have nothing against FNB, because for the most time I’ve had good service over the last 11 years, but it does make you wonder.

The official FNB Paypal Announcement

On Sunday, 4 October 2009, I tried to log into my FNB online account to transfer money into my account before debit orders go off.  Instead I was greeted with a message to say that they’re offline.  I didn’t worry too much, because this was just one of the many times I couldn’t log in on a Sunday.

Monday morning came and I still couldn’t log on.  It’s now 19:30, 32.5 hours later, and I still cannot log into FNB.  Instead they are advising me “We apologise for Online Banking not being available to use currently. Our support team is attending to the problem. As an alternative you can use Cellphone Banking.”

I’ve never registered for cellphone banking and was told that I need to phone them to activate it.  After phoning the number 3 times and getting cut off after holding for about 20 minutes each time I gave up.  What has gone so terribly wrong that they have to be down for so long?

Not only could I not do inter account transfers to make sure my personal accounts have enough money for debit orders, but I’ve had to delay sending stock to clients because I couldn’t confirm proof of payments.  This resulted in at least 2 orders being canceled today.

Surely if it’s an upgrade that went wrong they can restore from a backup or at least have a roll back feature?  And I’m sure it doesn’t take 32.5 hours to find out what the problem is, especially if it’s in house software.

And up to now, no one is able to give any indication of when it will be fixed.

I’m not the only that is pissed off by this.  It only takes a Google search of FNB for updates in the last 24 hours or a search on Twitter to see people are not happy.  I am sure though that all this anger just falls on deaf ears, because the banks have us by the balls.