PayPal - no pal of mine!
I opened a PayPal account, but not linked it to any of my cards or bank accounts at this stage.
Some reading determined that whatever account I use is not worth much as it all has to be routed through First National Bank - FNB.
I bank with Standard and there is no way I will change. FNB fees are more than double what I pay.
Move on a bit - some e-mails from PayPal giving a $5 reward if I logged in.
So I logged in and qualified.
E-mail arrives advising of my US$5 gift. Great!
But here comes the catch on the South African side, see message below.
So, IMVHO, PayPal from RSA sucks.
You are required to comply with South African exchange control regulations. This means that if you receive amounts into your PayPal balance from a PayPal user:
(i) you may not send those amounts to another PayPal user for a purchase or for any other reason.
(ii) you must withdraw the amounts in your PayPal balance to your South African bank account* within 30 Days of receipt of funds.
*FNB charges a fee for each top up and withdrawal. Please see the FNB website for more information.