Keep track and manage your expenses using the new SnapBill expenses app.

Find and activate it at Setup >> Apps >> Expenses in your SnapBill account ( https://billing.snapbill.com/setup/apps ).

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Seasons greetings to all our loyal SnapBill users! It's that time of year again; time for a break and a bit of relaxation. SnapBill will be here throughout December helping your billing run smoothly, while you relax and enjoy a bit of down time.

So why not start relaxing by having a read though our December newsletter. We have a new invoice line item categorisation tool in the Setup section as well as the addition of credit notes and a data importer. Also check out the accounts notice for December to ensure your account stays in the green. We also bring you a run down of recent PayPal developments in South Africa.

Merry Snapbilling ya'll and thanks for your continued support :)

Check out our full December Newsletter here.

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FNB has just announced that you can now use their PayPal withdrawal service, previously exclusive to FNB, without actually requiring a FNB bank account.

You need to register for a free online banking profile and will need to go through the FICA process, but afterwards you will be able to withdraw funds to any South African bank account at no additional charge.

This is great news for SnapBill users. As SnapBill already fully integrates PayPal, any SnapBill user can now use PayPal to receive payment globally.

Receive payment in any of the supported currencies, and withdraw funds via FNB to your South African bank account. See the full press release below:

First National Bank (FNB) and PayPal today announced that it has extended its FNB PayPal service so that South Africans can withdraw funds from a PayPal account to any South African bank account. All South African banking account holders now have the ability to receive funds from PayPal’s more than 100 million active users in over 190 countries and territories and in 24 currencies.  This service was previously exclusive to FNB customers.

“One and a half years after launching our exclusive Top Up and Withdraw services for FNB customers we are pleased to open up the PayPal service for receiving funds to all customers with a South African bank account. They will now be able to withdraw funds from a PayPal account into a qualifying South African bank account regardless of which South African bank that they bank with. FNB is a proud supporter of entrepreneurship in South Africa and PayPal provides entrepreneurs with a safer and easier way to get paid by anyone, anywhere in the world, and in over 24 currencies,” says Chris Savides, FNB’s General Manager for FNB Complementary Online Services.

Over 20,000 FNB-banked merchants and individuals have already signed up for the PayPal service to-date. By opening up the ability for individuals and businesses that do not bank with FNB, it is able to offer the more than 500,000 South Africans with registered PayPal accounts the ability to receive funds through PayPal into their selected bank accounts.

“Although most of the current 500,000 South African PayPal customers use their accounts to buy goods and services from overseas merchants there are several merchants and entrepreneurs who could be using PayPal to grow their business globally and receive payments securely and conveniently with PayPal”, says Savides.

South Africans already making use of PayPal but not banking with FNB have been able to make credit card-based payment transactions and benefit from the added security of transacting online with PayPal by linking their credit card to an authorised PayPal account.

Receiving funds and withdrawing these funds into a South African bank account was previously offered exclusively to FNB banking customers. “The new PayPal withdraw service for non FNB customers is similar to the current service whereby users are required to link their verified South African PayPal account to a South African bank account,” explains Savides.  “It is for this reason that customers who want to make use of the PayPal service to receive funds into their nominated bank account are still required to create a free FNB Online Banking profile in order to link the accounts, even if they do not bank with FNB. It facilitates the Know Your Customer (KYC) and reporting requirements of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and ensures that all transactions take place within the exchange controls.”

FNB’s agreement with PayPal enables international businesses and individuals to transact with South African service providers via a secure and convenient payment service.

Customers can simply open a PayPal account by visiting www.paypal.co.za and are then required to link it to a qualified South African Bank account by visiting www.fnb.co.za. They will be able to receive payments in 24 different currencies via PayPal and FNB will convert the currency to South African Rand when the money is withdrawn into their South African bank accounts.

Savides adds that the internet has changed the global commerce landscape and encourages South Africans to think about selling their goods and services to people outside of South Africa’s borders.  “Anyone has the ability to become a global online retailer. There is a diversity of businesses and individuals receiving payments with PayPal, from taxidermists to tour operators, philanthropists to philately; but it’s not just for small business to charitable donations. One of South Africa’s leading online floral and gifting retailers, NetFlorist.co.za started making use of PayPal after it realised that 30% of its business comes from outside of South Africa’s borders. PayPal is a trusted and safer payment service for people transacting from abroad,” he says.

“FNB and PayPal have a similar focus on innovation, so it makes sense that we would work with FNB to make online payments even easier for merchants and consumers in South Africa,” said Oded Zehavi, head of PayPal’s business in Israel and South Africa.

“With South Africa’s solid financial infrastructure and its status as one of the continent’s largest economies, we have seen great strides in eCommerce in this market. The succeess of FNB and PayPal’s intintal offering will be further bosltered by offering all customers with a South African bank account the a safer way of getting paid online with PayPal,” concludes Zehavi.

“The opening up of the withdraw service from PayPal by FNB sees FNB take another step forward as South Africa’s most innovative financial institution and responds directly to our ‘how can we help you?’ brand promise,” concludes Savides.

The PayPal service is offered in cooperation with FNB and has received approval from the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank.

That's right! We are empowering SMME e-commerce, one high quality, fully brandable, completely customisable, automated, recurring, professional looking invoice at a time.

The SnapBill crew competed in Tech4Africa's Samsung Apps Ignite startup competition in Johannesburg, South Africa this month and walked away with one of the top 3 spots! Read more about our teams adventures on our new blog.

Also check out our new website, complete with live chat, and the new features section to see what else we have been up to this month.

Check out our full November newsletter here.

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We here at SnapBill are empowering African e-commerce, one high quality, fully brandable, completely customisable, automated and professional looking invoice at a time. ;) And being recognised for our achievements while we are at it.

SnapBill took part for the first time in this year's Samsung Apps Ignite competition hosted at the 2011 Tech4Africa conference. As organisers say:

Samsung Apps Ignite is aimed at giving startups great exposure in a once-a-year environment of investors, mentors, thought leaders, buyers, decision makers, journalists, influencers and potential recruits.

The field is limited to 8 pre-selected startups. Each startup is given the opportunity to pitch their idea and a winner chosen by the judges.

"The challenge is to craft a pitch compelling enough to get introductions to investors, users, customers, and for journalists to write about your product." say organisers.

Looks like we did just that!

SnapBill,  Plot my ride and Real Time Wine were named top 3 startups for 2011. Real Time Wine taking first, while Plot my ride and SnapBill took second and third spot respectively.

SnapBill would like to extend its hearty congratulations to the awesome brains at Real Time Wine and Plot my ride and give recognition to all the other top notch competitors in this year's Ignite. Well done to all. It was an awesome experience being given the opportunity to take part with such a great bunch of South African startups.

We recently took a long, hard look at the "legacy" SnapBill blog and found ourselves primarily using it to repost newsletters as well as articles about how great the world thinks our billing system is. This was not the most useful approach to keep you, our valued users :), stimulated and drooling for more billing presents.

*Turn over new leaf*. Meet SnapBill space 2.0, filled with buckets more snappiness! The new SnapBill space will keep you up to date with the latest developments and internal happenings ("Snaps of our lives") as well as provide SnapBill users with a weekly dose of billing joy.

We encourage you to join in, discuss, recommend and vote on existing or proposed SnapBill features. Let us know what your business needs, any bit of functionality that would make your life easier and make billing your clients more convenient. We are here to listen and will try our best to annihilate all your billing nightmares.

Snappy Billing,
The SnapBill Team

Tell a Friend. Earn Referral Commission.

Have you ever told someone how great SnapBill is only to find out that they then started using it themselves? If you have we would like to say thank you and what better way than with wads of cash?

This is why we have launched the SnapBill affiliate program so you can earn commission on all the people you refer to SnapBill.

The SnapBill affiliate program is intended for use by SnapBill users or approved partners to refer individuals and organisations with which they have a known relationship. We offer our affiliates 25% commission on all revenue generated from a referee for a period of one year from date of first invoice. This includes billing system fees and integration fees that SnapBill may charge the referee from time to time.

To find out more about becoming a part of our affiliate program send an email to affiliates@snapbill.com.

Howdy SnapBill users and a very warm welcome to the month of October. We have a smorgasbord of billing delights on offer for you this month and a few new features up our sleeves that are guaranteed to coax a smile from everyone.

SnapBill users with lots of friends and the gift of the gab will be happy to hear that we have launched our affiliate program. Earn awesome referral commissions by telling your friends about SnapBill. Read all about in this newsletter or contact us for more information.

Now it’s time to sit back, relax, and check out what we have in store for you this month.

Check out our full October Newsletter here.

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For the launch of his “withTy” startup showcase for his self titled blog, Tyler Reed, South African entrepreneur and speaker, interviewed our fearless leaders, Jaco van Wyk CEO and Joshua Yudaken CTO.

The guys met up at our Pretoria offices to discuss the rewarding, riveting, and sometimes rocky, road of the .com startup in South Africa. Check out the full article here or watch the interview below.

Fancy having your SnapBill invoices paid via instant EFT? Well, now clients who bill in South African Rand (ZAR) have just that and more with our latest payment gateway integration – PayFast. Read more about PayFast integration and how to start making use of it in the new features section below.

Apart from new gateway integrations we are also supplying you with a handy new tool to monitor the growth of your business. The Growth graph located in your SnapBill account’s Statistics area will supply you with real time graphical data on the growth of your client base, their increased usage of your services and provide graphical feedback on the success of debit order batches.

So here’s to payment gateways, automatic reconciliation of accounts and getting paid the easy way!

Check out our full September Newsletter here.

Subscribe for free

To get the latest SnapBill news delivered straight to your inbox every month you can opt in to receive our newsletter here.