tech news
FNB Expects 10% eCommerce Transaction Boost on Black Friday
FNB says that it is expecting a 10% increase in the total number of eCommerce transactions over Black Friday and Cyber Monday – as many consumers who participate in Black Friday may opt to shop online instead of going into brick and mortar stores. This is comparable to 2019 where Black Friday weekend transaction volumes on FNB POS (Point of Sale) devices grew by 32% compared to 2018, while eCommerce transactions grew over 30%. FNB also says that its merchants have also upped their game by investing in their platforms to ensure a seamless sales experience, regardless of the types of devices used by consumers when shopping. One such example is increased support for QR Code payments, where the customer opts to checkout through simply scanning the presented QR Code to pay. FNB Virtual Cr...
Mukuru Expands Reach in Southern Africa
Mukuru is expanding its footprint across Southern Africa. This comes after the remittance provider announced it has seen a 20-fold increase in monthly transactions within Zimbabwe. “As we grow our physical footprint in Southern Africa and bring our services to more people by way of booths and an entrepreneurial agent network, this growth is being complemented by the progressive digitisation of key steps in the Mukuru payments process,” says Andy Jury, CEO of Mukuru. “With more and more digital access points over USSD, WhatsApp and the Mukuru App, for instance, customers are becoming increasingly comfortable with things like self-sign up, including digital KYC and onboarding, which is not only raising our brand presence, but is shifting customers that much closer to financial inclusion and ...
Huawei and Vusi Thembekwayo Join Forces to Encourage Digitising Businesses
Huawei has joined forces with South African business extraordinaire Vusi Thembekwayo to provide the technology company’s developer community with entrepreneurial advice on the importance of digitalising businesses and creating apps in the context of the thriving digital economy. As part of Huawei’s recently announced series of app developer workshops, Thembekwayo will engage developers and entrepreneurs in one of the upcoming monthly workshops. Thembekwayo is the CEO of MyGrowthFund, an enterprise development agency. He is well known for his entrepreneurial flair and business passion, as showcased on the popular TV show Dragon’s Den South Africa, which focused on pitching innovative business ideas for venture capital funding. The illustrious business mogul has headed multi-million-rand c...
FNB Virtual Credit Card Delayed, Confirms CEO
FNB Card CEO, Chris Labuschagne has revealed that the bank will delay the launch of its virtual credit cards until 2021 – a strategic move that is said to “ensure that the launch process goes as smoothly as possible for its customers”. “FNB is excited to confirm that it has successfully completed the pilot of its Virtual Card. In order to enable a seamless transition for customers, the Bank has decided to delay the launch of its Virtual Card to 2021,” say Labuschagne in a statement to My Broadband. “We are excited at the prospect of offering exceptional customer experience and a convenient and safer way to help customers manage money.” The bank unveiled the virtual credit cards – along with debit cards – earlier this year. Raj Makanjee, FNB Payments Executive ...
e4 Appoints Proptech Managing Executive
e4 has announced the appointment of Ian Bayne as Managing Executive of Proptech – this comes at a time the company believes the real estate sector will increase its use of digital property technologies. According to Bayne, technology is not only disrupting the industry but also propelling the industry forward. “Proptech is becoming a catalyst for positive change in real estate. As a long-time player in this market, e4 has ambitious growth targets for 2021 and my appointment is in line with a strategic imperative to become more focused on the customer experience. Using our technology, we want our clients to process their transactions quickly and efficiently.” Bayne goes on to say that Proptech’s value is starting to be better understood and he anticipating increased uptake over ...
Elon Musk Says He “Most Likely” Has COVID-19, Calls It “A Type of Cold”
Elon Musk has long been something of a COVID-19 truther, and that doesn’t seem to have changed — despite “most likely” catching the virus. On Friday, the Tesla founder revealed on Twitter that he’d received four rapid antigen COVID-19 tests — “same machine, same test, same nurse” — that came… Please click the link below to read the full article. Elon Musk Says He “Most Likely” Has COVID-19, Calls It “A Type of Cold” Ben Kaye You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users...
3 Predictions for the Future of Retail
For many industries, predicting the future during a pandemic would be difficult – if not impossible. Retail is different. Why? Because COVID-19 has acted as an accelerant for digital transformation – fuelling and amplifying trends that have been creeping in for years. You could even call this “Covid acceleration.” McKinsey recently determined that, over a 10-week period in 2020, digital business penetration had increased by the same amount as in the previous 10 years. So, considering this supercharged digital trend, here are three predictions for retail in the coming year: 1. Automation everywhere The COVID-19 crisis took almost every business by surprise, decimating many which were not prepared for a move to online sales. It has prompted many operational changes that create efficien...
Unpacking Africa’s Mobile Cybercrime Challenge
In mid-2020, Upstream’s Secure-D anti-fraud platform revealed that the total number of malicious mobile applications doubled in the first quarter of the year. The analysis found 29,000 malicious apps (14,500 in 2019), a 55% spike in fraudulent mobile transactions and increased volumes of infected mobile devices. But that wasn’t the bad news. The company also revealed that some smartphones were being sold with malware already pre-installed on the system. Malware that allowed for the devices to subscribe unsuspecting users to services that would result in high data usage and charges. According to Anna Collard, SVP of Content Strategy and Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa, this growing problem, coupled with low levels of consumer awareness, puts people at significant risk. “In the KnowBe4 Security...
New Device Can Beam Music Into Your Head Without Headphones
Apple revolutionized the game with noise cancellation AirPods, but one Israeli company is coming for their throne. According to the Associated Press, Noveto Systems has invented a new product that can beam music directly into your head — no earbuds or brain implants necessary. The device is aptly called SoundBeamer… Please click the link below to read the full article. New Device Can Beam Music Into Your Head Without Headphones Nina Corcoran You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Unpacking Trends in the Future of Work
Almost nine out of ten leaders (88%) at large enterprises in South Africa expect they will adopt a more hybrid way of working permanently – according to Microsoft’s newly launched Work Reworked research. The study found that flexible ways of working are here to stay with many leaders focused on driving a culture of innovation. While South African employees still see value in working from a main office at least some of the time; findings show that on average, people would now like to spend just less than half (42%) of their time outside of the traditional office setting. In fact, people still see the time spent in the office as a powerful way to maintain bonds with their colleagues. A more permanent change around ways of working is already evident, with a healthy majority (82%) of com...
Apple Launches macOS Big Sur
Apple has officially introduced macOS Big Sur – the latest version of its desktop operating system. According to the tech giant, Big Sur comes with a beautiful redesign and is packed with new enhancements for key apps including Safari, Messages, and Maps, as well as new privacy features. Here’s a closer look at all of Big Sur’s new enhancements: Refreshed Design Apple has redesigned the Control Center that is expected to make navigation easier while putting more controls at users’ fingertips. “The all-new Control Center gives users quick access to controls for Do Not Disturb, displays, keyboard brightness, and more, right from the menu bar. Users can see more relevant information at a glance in the updated Notification Center, including interactive notifications and...
Ericsson Acquires 5G Solutions Company, Cradlepoint
Ericsson has completed its acquisition of Cradlepoint, a Wireless WAN Edge 4G and 5G solutions company. The investment is key to Ericsson’s ongoing strategy of capturing market share in the rapidly expanding 5G enterprise space. Through Cradlepoint’s solutions, companies can connect sites, vehicles, mobile workforces, and IoT devices in a simple and secure way of using cellular technology. By leveraging the combined offering, Ericsson will be able to create valuable new revenue streams for its customers by supporting 5G-enabled services for enterprise and boost returns on investments in the network. Cradlepoint will operate as a stand-alone subsidiary within Ericsson and continue to build on the current market momentum as 5G is speeding up digital transformation and increasing the need for...
