To set up PayPal, just initiate a payment like you normally would, by tapping the ‘+’ button and then selecting the green payments button.

Once you enter the amount and tap ‘pay’ you’ll have the option to select your payment method, which now includes PayPal in addition to debit cards. If you’ve already used Messenger for payments before, you can just tap ‘change’ to switch things up.

It’s a nice option to have if you’re already used to making transactions via PayPal, or if you simply prefer not giving your debit card information to Facebook.

The feature is currently only active for iOS users in the US, but will arrive on Android ‘soon.’ No word on when it might arrive on the desktop or for other regions, but we imagine it’s just a matter of time.

–

Source: Thenextweb

The post Facebook Messenger teams up with PayPal for payments appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Since Digicash, and then PayPal were introduced in the late 1990’s, digital money has become part of the world’s lexicon. However, it was the introduction of Bitcoin at the start of 2009 that truly launched what history will eventually remember as the digital money revolution, through its introduction of cryptocurrencies, that apply cryptography, a complex mathematical model to issue and determine value digital currencies. This has enabled a fundamental change from the centralized management of traditional currencies to a decentralized system that is market led, devoid of bureaucratic manipulation by sovereign governments and multilateral institutions, and allows for much lower transaction costs.

Over the past eight years, some 800 cryptocurrencies have been developed along the lines of Bitcoin, with a combined market valuation of some US$110 billion currently, but Bitcoin is still clearly the most widely accepted one globally, accounting for over 42% of total daily cryptocurrency transaction volumes world wide. While Asia has emerged as the early leader in the acceptance and use of cryptocurrenies – in Japan, for instance, they are already mainstream, with some 660,000 outlets accepting and using them – they are also catching on elsewhere around the world including Africa. In Ghana, the trading and use of cryptocurrencies may still be an esoteric activity but there are already people who trade large volumes daily, running into the equivalent of thousands of US dollars with Bitcoin in particular.

Despite the growth of cryptocurrencies based on the model introduced by Bitcoin, the growth in its usage is constrained by several factors. The most important is the often severe value fluctuations they tend to undergo. Perhaps the most vivid illustration of this is presented by Asteria, a cryptocurrency designed like Bitcoin which opened the year at US$8 per coin. By the beginning of April it was trading at US$48 per coin, but just three months later, by early July its value had skyrocketed to a peak of US$400 per coin. However just a week after hitting that peak its value had plummeted to US$38 per coin, before rising to US$160 by the end of the month.

Another major constraint is that cryptocurrency transactions tend to be slow, because of the process involved. A cryptocurrency is a type of digital token that relies on cryptography for chaining together digital signatures of token transfers.  This uses a decentralized ledger employing peer-to –peer networking and so proof of work is also required.

The sum total of all this – in plain English rather than techno babble – is that transactions can take between 30 minutes to an hour to consummate. This makes the use of Bitcoins and the likes almost impossible to use for merchant sales and purchases – it takes too much time for the buyer’s value to be confirmed. Thus up till now, cryptocurrencies uses have been largely restricted to monetary transfers for cross border transactions and e-commerce transactions.

But even in this respect, there is yet another snag: the issuance process for crytocurrencies limits their creation and this consequently places limitations on their capacity to be used to handle transactions.

Now however, this is about to change with the introduction of a revolutionary new cryptocurrency, known as Dynamic Coin which employs an algorithm that both stabilizes its value, thereby enabling it to act as a safe store of value, and also delivers radically faster transaction consummation times, thereby enabling it to be used  for merchant sales. This has the potential to turn the cryptocurrency market on its head, toppling Bitcoin from its leadership position and possibly wiping some of the less used currencies off the map altogether. And the promoters of Dynamic Coin are now looking to use Ghana as their launch pad for introducing their new cryptocurrency into Africa.

Dynamic Coin (DMC for short) is a new, open sourced, fully decentralized, peer-to-peer currency unlike any other in existence. Designed from inception to be scalable so as to handle an unlimited number of coins, it has a fully inflation-proof mechanism, similar to traditional currencies. The algorithm used addresses supply and demand and effectively ties its value to the US dollar, thereby providing it with price stability. This eliminates the potential for the sharp value fluctuations that afflict the other cryptocurrencies in existence. Indeed, while other cryptocurrencies have traded more like international commodities such as crude oil and precious metals, DMC actually trades as a true currency, offering price stability and therefore a store of value.

Importantly, DMC transactions use a 15 second block time which is 40 times faster than Bitcoin, and so transactions are confirmed in one minute (using four blocks) instead of up to one hour. Besides there are no block size limitations, allowing unlimited transactions per minute.

The result of all this is that DMC can be used at merchant sales points, the first cryptocurrency to have this capability; the combination of unprecedented fast processing time and unlimited block size makes it realistic to load Dynamic Coins on a debit card which can be used for instant transactions at points of sale world wide.

“Dynamic Coin is the world’s first true transactional cryptocurrency” enthuses Jack Kelleher, a founding partner of Dynamic Coin. “It is very unique in that it has merchant service capabilities and can serve as an android wallet.”

DMC has been designed as what Kelleher describes as a “value retention currency” providing what he calls “disruptive price stability” to the digital marketplace. Utilizing tokenized assets for transactional purposes, DMC enables the instant transfer of value and ownership within an organizations core payments and remittance infrastructure.

“Dynamic Coin can be incorporated into the payment processes of large corporations” asserts Kelleher. “Any large corporation with on-line presence can play in that space, for business to business transactions among other things.”

Kelleher certainly is well equipped to promote this new currency. A former Senior Advisor to the CEO of Bloomberg Trading Solutions Group, he was a member of the executive committee and was responsible for driving vision and execution internally as well as strategic planning and managing key organic and inorganic initiatives across the enterprise. He has also been Practice Manager for Financial Services at Active Data Exchange and before that he was an equity trader at First Boston/Credit Suisse.

DMC is backed by and traded on the USDX Exchange. Importantly it is fully Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering regulations compliant.

DMC’s promoters are now looking to get it up and running in Ghana as the first step towards making it accepted and used widely across Africa. Here, the point man is Kwesi Amoafo Yeboah, accomplished IT entrepreneur and the current Chairman of the Venture Capital Trust Fund.

Finally, Ghana is about to get a cryptocurrency that can be used widely. Being a country that has suffered steep local currency depreciation, DMC should be a welcome alternative.

–

By: Toma Imihere and Elorm Desewu

The post New cryptocurrency to be operational in Ghana appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

It’s a shot across the bow to Facebook, which has long support payments via Messenger, not to mention Apple, which is implementing a similar feature via Apple Pay in iOS 11.

Skype’s choice to partner with PayPal was a smart one, as it’s an established name many people have already signed up for. Considering many business-y sessions happen via Skype too – like tutoring or singing lessons – it could make it easier to collect payments from clients.

That said, the feature is only available on mobile devices (in 22 countries). You can access it by swiping right on your chat window and tapping the Send Money button, or read more about in Skype’s documentation.

–

Source: The next web

The post Skype now lets you send money via PayPal appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

GUTA has asked all foreigners involved in retail trade to leave Ghanaian markets by the end of June.

According to the President of the Association, George Ofori the continuous depreciation of the Cedi is as a result of the involvement of a large foreign influx in retail trade in the country.

The Public relations officer of the Nigerians in Ghana, Barry Ndu Nwaihim said GUTA should reflect on the consequences of the threat if it is carried out.

“We have explained to GUTA that if they start this today definitely it must have an effect on Ghanaian traders who are trading in Nigeria,” he said.

He said there are Nigerians with Ghanaian spouses and thus sending them out of the market will affect many families.

When the issue came up early last year the ministry of trade directed all the traders to regularize their business with the registrar general’s department in order to pay the appropriate taxes. The ministry also demanded that all foreigners legalize their stay by acquiring working and resident permits.

The Nigerian traders, however dragged Ghana to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in 2013 over the enforcement of the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) Act.

The Ashanti regional branch of GUTA has also asked the Nigerian traders at Suame magazine to leave the market.

But Mr. Ndu Nwaihim note that “we will initiate calls to the Ministry of Trade, we have talked to Nigerian traders, let’s see before this week ends  that we will be able to sit at the round table”.

The laws of the Ghana do not permit foreigners to be involved   in retail trade.

By: Betty Kankam Boadu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nigerian traders to meet Trade minister over GUTA threat appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.