Category: TECH REVIEWS

  • 5 Freelance Platforms That Are Safe And Secure To Work On in 2023

    Freelancing online has been on a steady rise in the past decade and it’s showing no signs of stopping. According to industry studies, the worldwide freelance marketplace is estimated to be worth $1.5 trillion in 2022. In US alone, there is 70.4 million freelancers and is forecasted to grow up to 90.1 million by 2028.

    An average freelance hourly rate worldwide is $28/hour according Payoneer Global freelancing income report.

    5 Freelance Platforms That Are Safe And Secure To Work On in 2023

    On this blogpost, I will share with you 5 freelancing platforms that you should consider if you want to become a successful online freelancer and an entrepreneur.

    Freelancing Platforms at a Glance

    SummaryUpworkFiverrFreelancerPeoplePerhour Guru
    LocationCalifornia, United StatesTel Aviv, IsraelAustraliaUnited KingdomPennsylvania, United States
    Years of Business Operations9 years. Founded in 2013.12 years. Founded in 2010. 13 years. Founded in 2009.15 years. Founded in 2007.24 years. Founded in 1998.
    Annual Revenue $503 million $298 Million $43.1 Million $15.7 Million $374 million
    Payment Methods Payoneer, Paypal, Bank , Mpesa and more.Payoneer, Paypal, Bank , and more.Payoneer, Paypal, Bank, Skrill and more.Payoneer, Paypal, Bank , Skrill and more.Payoneer, Paypal, Bank , and more.
    Payment Processing timeFrom 1 Mins (on Payoneer) to 7 days depending on the mode of payment you use. From 5 Mins to 5 days depending on the mode of payment you use.From 5 Mins to 5 days depending on the mode of payment you use.From Few hours to 5 days depending on the mode of payment you use.Within 24 hours to 5 days depending on the mode of payment you use.
    Escrow ServicesYes.
    		Yes.
    		Yes.
    		Yes.
    		Yes.
    Payment Security Period before Withdrawal5 days from the day payment is released.7-14 days from the day payment is released.15 days from the day payment is released for first payment.

    1day for subsequent withdrawals.    		24 hours to 14 days from the day payment is released for first payment.
    		No security hold.
    Client and Freelancer Accounts Can use one account as a Freelancer, Client or Agency/Company. Can use one account as a Freelancer and Client.Can use one account as a Freelancer and Client.Can use one account as a Freelancer and Client.Can use one account as a Freelancer and Client.
    Mode of Job Acquisition – Bidding on projects posted by clients.

    – Project Catalogues.

    – Consultation Offers.

    – Upwork     Enterprise Invitations to bid.

    – Client invitations and direct hires.     		– Create service Catalogue and wait for clients to purchase.

    – Occasionally apply to job requests by clients on the platform.     		– Bidding on projects posted by clients.

    – Service Catalogues

    – Contests

    – Invitations and direct hires    		– Bidding on projects posted by clients.

    – Create hourly service Catalogue

    – Project invitations and direct hires     		– Bidding on projects posted by clients

    – Invitations and direct hires
    Potential
    Average Annual Earnings per Freelancer     		$42,000 to $120,000 From $12,000UnknownUnknownUnknown
    A Glance at Top Online Freelancing Platforms

    Upwork

    Upwork is a freelance company based in the US and has been there for more than a decade. Upwork is among the pioneers of online freelance services. Originally it was called Odesk before it merged with another premium freelancing platform called Elance to form Upwork in 2013. Elance used to have more high paying projects than Odesk before the merge. Also, Elance was the first freelancing platform to offer Escrow services on fixed contracts.

    Since the merge, Upwork has grown to accommodate all kinds of jobs. Also, their security has been heightened to protect freelancers and clients from fraud. It is reported that Upwork has more than 12 Million registered freelancers.

    Upwork offers 5 ways to find work based on the freelancers experience using their platform. The first one is through bidding. This is a situation where a client posts a job; and freelancers on the platform bid on it. The client chooses the proposal that addresses their needs and meets their requirements. They then award the contract to the winning bidder.

    The second way is though Creating project offers. The freelancer can create a project offer catalogue around the skills that he/she possesses and posts it on the platform. This will be displayed to the prospective clients. If a clients likes a certain catalogue, they will purchase it.

    The last one is through Freelancer Enterprise client invitations and Direct hires. This is where a freelancer is interviewed and hired through Upwork Enterprise. Only freelancers with Top Rating and Top Rating Plus qualify for this offer.

    Among the most competitive skills that are highly paying on the platform include Technical skills, customer service skills, digital marketing skills, creative and design skills, copywriting and more.

    You can withdraw earned income to your Paypal, Local Bank , Payoneer, Mpesa digital wallet and more.

    Fiverr

    Fiverr is a Freelance platform founded in the year 2010 with it’s headquarters is in Tel Aviv Israel. Fiverr is popular for offering every service for $5 bucks. Freelancers can post their $5 service offers in many different categories.

    Today, the company has grown and now hosts an estimated 3 million people comprising of buyers and sellers/freelancers.

    Also, their $5 service offer approach has evolved over time. Sellers can scale up their offers from $5 to $1000+ per offer depending on the service they are offering through packages/pricing table.

    Unlike Upwork, Freelancers can only post what they offer on Fiverr in a catalogue format and wait for buyers to find it through search. This means that if one spends enough time optimizing their offer, buyers will find it and they will in turn get many orders.

    With Fiverr, you can sell any service as long as it can be sold digitally.

    You can withdraw earned income to your Paypal, Bank , Skrill, Payoneer digital wallet and more.

    Freelancer

    Freelancer is an Australian freelance marketplace that was founded in the year 2009. It connects freelancers with clients across the world. Freelancer has more than 900 job categories to choose from. As of June 2022, it had over 59 million users.

    Like Upwork, clients posts jobs for freelancers to bid on. They also offer escrow services on all contracts. On the other hand, they have a special offer called freelancer design contests. Here, the client posts design contests with a set price and any freelancer can submit their mock designs. The design that the client picks is the winner. The winner is made public and is rewarded with the set prize.

    This is an ideal place to start if you are not sure of the category you will want to work in. Also, it is here that you can identify different skills that are hot in the market then learn how to do them and then look for freelance jobs on the platform.

    Freelancer offer a wide range of withdrawal methods including Paypal, bank and Skrill.

    Peopleperhour

    Peopleperhour is a UK based freelance platform. It connects freelancers and clients across different categories of skills. One can sign up as a freelancer or a client. Once your profile is approved, you can proceed to search and apply for jobs that matches your skills.

    Freelancers here also have an option to create a project catalogue telling prospective clients what they can do in a hour for a given price.

    Most clients on Peopleperhour are genuine since they are required to confirm their preferred payment methods before they are allowed to hire. They are also required to fund escrow before a freelancer can start to work on their projects. At the end, freelancers are required to proof that they completed the discussed job by coordinating their communications strictly on the platform.

    You can withdraw earned income to your Paypal, Bank , Skrill and Payoneer digital wallet.

    Guru

    Guru is the pioneer freelance marketplace with it’s headquarters in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania US. It was founded in the year 1998 and has had less hype since it’s inception. They still approach freelancing using the traditional methods of posting jobs and letting freelancers to apply them.

    Despite that, they have many long time clients across the world. At the time that I freelanced on Guru, one could easily be scammed by a new client. That has changed today.

    However, one needs to be vigilant and ensure that the client has funded escrow before they start work. All in all, freelancing on Guru offers individuals a room to get more clients. Competition by bidders on Guru on jobs posted is not that fierce.

    While competition is not that high, the number of projects to bid on here is very small. Generally, they have more tech related jobs than any other category. This is a freelancing site to bundle up with others until you find a bearing.

    Big Downside of These Freelance Platforms

    They don’t accept cryptocurrency as a payment method. This is despite the growing number of people using crypto as a digital currency. Cryptocurrency is here to stay. It is therefore something that all freelancing platforms should consider.

    Conclusion

    There are hundreds of freelancing platforms online today that you can find work on and get paid. Some platforms, specialize in providing certain services like writing, transcription, video production, design, coding e.t.c. If you want to take freelancing fulltime, consider signing up on some of them that you find suitable and begin bidding on jobs posted there.

    You never know where your luck lies. You need to keep trying until you succeed.

    Freelancing is a sustainable career that can make you up to $1000/month part time working from home.

    You only need to commit some of your time daily to achieve the desired results. I have personally made up to $5000 a month on one freelancing platform.

    And these are the 5 Freelancing Platforms That Are Safe And Secure To Work On Today.

    Which is your favorite freelancing platform and why? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

    And if you need help to create professional content to market your business, get in touch with us here. On the other hand, if you need professional video production services, you can request a quote here or start consultation here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • Full Review of Digital Lending Apps in Kenya

    Today I will be reviewing 4 Digital lending apps or loan Apps that I have used. Most of the apps I will be mentioning here operate in the Kenyan marketplace.

    Disclaimer: I am writing this article based on my experiences with loan apps. None of the information shared here is sponsored by any of the apps mentioned here . So, this article is solely to educate and inform the public . Use your own judgment when deciding on which loan app to download and borrow from.

    How People Finds Themselves Taking Loans from Mobile Apps

    People have different stories on how they got to know about loan apps. Many are like me; they were in a financial distress, and they were looking for a quick fix after all their friends failed to help. They then decided to search for answers on Google. Google then redirected them to GooglePlay store where they found the solution.

    But at what price does this solution come with?

    Since loan apps have been in existence long enough, nearly all tech savy people have an idea of how they work. Some apps have evolved to suite current customers needs while others; well, are yet to be hit by the reality.

    One crucial thing that many people forget to look at when they are in financial distress is the details they give out in exchange for a loan.

    That’s why I am here to take you through some things I have learnt after using digital loan apps.

    Popular Keywords Used On Playstore

    Loan Apps, digital lenders, instant loan, Quick loan. Searching using one of these keywords will display several loan applications. With more than 50 Apps showing up, that’s a lot of Credit at Hand if you think about it.

    How you make you choices from here matters.

    How much time do you have with you to decide on the app to take loan with? In my opinion, don’t rush. Take your time. Spend a day at least to look through these apps.

    In this review, I will focus on the App UI design, Customer Data Collected, Profile Review time, Loan Processing Duration, Repay Time Frame, Fees and Customer Service.

    Tala Loan App

    Tala loan app has been there since the year 2011. I first learnt about the app in the year 2014 from billboards but had never used it to borrow a loan. Two months ago, I was propelled to try it out after the long electioneering period. So here are my thoughts so far after using the app.

    Tala Loan App

    App UI– App UI looks good and polished. What you see displayed as screenshots from the app on PlayStore is how the app looks like after signing up.

    Loan Application Process– This is where I felt a bit uneasy. More personal and business related data is required for eligibility. Also, the lender is interested to know how much money you make in a month and the frequency in which you receive the payment.

    They also want to have your National ID number. This is a lot of private data if you think about it. So you have a choice to tell the truth or lie.

    Another downside about the information you provide is; once you share the data, you are not able to access them again on the app via your profile.

    Loan Application Time and Interest Rates – When making my first loan application it took less than 5 minutes for it to be approved. I was given a starting loan limit of Ksh.3,000 which on request, I received instantly on my Mpesa. So in terms of application review and loan approval, they are excellent. Their interest rate is at 0.3-0.6 % daily which is not bad compared to others when it comes to transparency.

    Customer Service And Credit Collection– In terms of customer service, they are also above average. I was called once by their customer representatives reminding me to pay the loan on time so that my limit would increase. Other than that, I regularly received well drafted SMS reminders.

    Repayment Deadlines – While I borrowed the loan for 30 days, I had up to 60 days to repay back. No penalty was imposed on the loan I borrowed.

    Overall, this is a good app for anyone to borrow short term loans so long as they repay back on time.

    Branch App

    Branch was launched around 2015. Unlike other mobile lending apps, branch does more than offering loan to users. Users can save, pay bills and manage their finances on the go.

    App UI Design– Branch has excellent app UI design. What you see on playStore is what you get when you sign up.

    Branch App

    Loan Application Process – The process of applying for a loan is simple once you sign up with your phone number. You cannot apply for any loan unless you grant the app permissions to see installed apps on your phone, contacts, SMS and location. This is normal for most loan apps to secure your account once you login.

    When applying for your first loan, you are required to confirm how much you earn in a month. Also, you need to take a selfie and upload it as part of the evaluation process.

    Loan Application time and Interest rates – From the time I downloaded the app to the time I received the first loan, it took me 20 minutes. This is quite fast for a loan of Ksh.3400 considering I don’t have history with them. Their interest rate for 61 days is 35%. That’s about 17.5% per month. This is high compared to Mshwari loan whose charge is 8.5%. So the interest is on the downside.

    Additionally, Branch charges transactional fees to withdraw the money from the app to Mpesa.

    Customer Service and Credit Collection – Compared to Tala, branch credit collectors are a bit aggressive. They will call you once your first installment is due. They claim to use this to calculate the amount of credit you will receive next. Also they will encourage you to repay on time to qualify for a higher loan limit. In a month they called me and sent me 3 messages which was detected as spam on my phone.

    Repayment deadline – You have to choose a period starting from 30 days. If you choose 60 days, they will request that you repay them back in two installments of 50/50 after every 30 days. They insist on this, something, which doesn’t go well when you haven’t gotten the funds to repay.

    Overall, this is not a bad app for borrowing emergency loan going by the fact that they will charge you 17.5% interest on initial loans.

    Truepesa

    TruePesa promises to give people instant loans. That is true, but not that fast. You have to first have the app on your phone for 2 weeks before they give you the first loan. Secondly, the loan duration they promise in the description area on Playstore is not practical. I will be getting to that in a minute.

    Truepesa App

    App UI Design – The app UI Design is clean. One thing you will quickly note with this app is, the UI design resemble the many loan apps on Playstore where once you install, there is a slider on the launch screen with a question; How much loan do you want? For Truepesa, the slider starts at Ksh.80,000. This is mouth watering to one in dire financial need.

    So if you choose that you want Ksh. 80,000, will you get that amount? Let’s find out.

    Loan Application process – You are required to sign up with your phone number and create a secret pin. Before your do this, the app requests for permissions on your phone which includes SMS, contact list, installed apps, external storage and phone location.

    I feel this is too much considering you are taking your first credit. After you agree, it’s followed by the privacy policy. It’s important to read and understand what you are agreeing to.

    Once you agree you will be signed up. This is where the show begins.

    Loan Application Time and Interest Rates – When you sign up, they ask you few questions when applying the loan like what you do and your national ID number. After you complete the application, you will not get the loan. They want you to remain with the app installed on your phone for 2 weeks and they will be able to give you a loan.

    Imagine remaining with an app on your phone that you have granted many permissions. Very risky.

    On the other hand, if you were looking for an instant loan, this will be a big disappointment.

    I uninstalled and installed the app 2 weeks later and I still had to wait for 2 days with the app installed on my phone for them to set a loan limit.

    They have a weird credit disbursement process. For instance, if you request a loan of Ksh. 2,500, you will receive Ksh. 1,800. They will deduct their interest rates of 24% a week and send you the balance. This is 3 times what Mshwari charges their customers for 30 days.

    Moreover, their loan period is 8 days and not 61 days they promise on Playstore.

    Customer Service and Credit Collection – This guys will not contact you until the 7th day -a day to loan expiry. That’s when you will receive several scary messages like the one below.

    Screenshot of an SMS from a Truepesa Loan app credit collector

    3 days later, I had over 40 similar messages on SMS and WhatsApp. This to me is very unprofessional. That’s aside calling me more than 3 times a day using different numbers to ask me to repay their loan. Not everyone falls in this category to be intimidated. Am sure this app will only attract crooked customers who tolerates such communication manners.

    Repayment deadline – They do opposite of what they promise on Googleplay. They tell you their loan tenure is 90-365 days with APR of 14-33%. You will be in for a shock when you sign up and wait for 2 weeks. That’s the rates they will charge you in 7 days. That’s a breach of contract. Not forgetting the amount of private information they have collected from you.

    Overall, this is an app I wouldn’t recommend to anyone who is looking for a quick loan. That’s unless you are ready to be embarrassed and overcharged.

    Zenka

    I first learnt about Zenka loan app at the height of Covid-19 in the year 2020 . There was a video campaign on most social medias advertising the app.

    They promise to give you loan for a period of 61 days to 1 year.

    App UI Design – The app UI is clean and sleek. They use unique fonts in their app as well. The screenshots you see on Playstore is exactly how the app looks like when you download and sign up.

    Loan Application process – The process of applying for a loan with Zenka is easy. You only sign up and share your national ID number and phone. Next, you fill in a questionnaire before you are allocated a loan limit, a process which takes 5 minutes.

    Loan Application Time and Interest Rates – From downloading the app all through to loan approval and depositing to my Mpesa took me around 15 minutes.

    I was allocated a loan limit of Ksh.3,000 on the first loan I applied with zero interest rate for 61 days.

    This is an offer that none of the lenders on Googleplay does. Am yet to see the practicality of their APR interest they promise of 170-224%.

    Customer Service and Credit Collection– Since I I took the loan, I have received only one marketing message from them. Compared to others, this is one of the peaceful loan I have taken from an app.

    Who knows, maybe I will begin to see their true colours once the loan deadlines approaches.

    Repayment Deadline – The deadline to repay the loan is from 61 days to 1 year. This a good time for anyone to look for money and repay the loan.

    Overall, Zenka is good app that you can take loan from owing to the time period you are given to repay back. Also, the peace of mind one get while using the app is worth.

    And thats it on Loan apps.

    Conclusion

    Loan apps are here with us to stay. It’s up to you as a user to practice discipline when borrowing. Sadly, once you take a loan, you can only run away from it but you cannot hide.

    On the other hand, digital lenders have many loopholes they need to seal.

    With more negative reviews and flagging of the loan apps on googleplay, their services will risk suspension and the people who had borrowed money from them will be left celebrating they luck.

    Also, Central Bank of Kenya and Office of the Data Protection Commission is on their case in a bid to regulate them.

    Every digital lender therefore need to listen to the customer feedback and do as the customer request. Customer is the king here. For them to buy from you, respect and dignity has to be upheld.

    As I close, if you need help with video production services, you can request a quote on www.techtubestudio.com.

    Until next time bye bye and take care.

  • Digital Lenders Under Scrutiny By Central Bank of Kenya and Office of The Data Protection Commission Over Malpractices

    A lot has been going on lately around digital lending apps or loan apps as many call it in Kenya. In a move to regulate this sector, Central Bank of Kenya(CBK) have listed requirements they need digital lenders to provide in order to be licensed.

    Players in the digital lending business had until September 2022 to submit these requirements for approval.

    By mid September 2022, Central bank of Kenya had approved only 10 digital lenders out of 288 applications they received. They said the process is ongoing and will update the public once more lenders are approved.

    List of Approved Digital Lenders in Kenya

    1. Ceres Tech Limited
    2. Getcash Capital Limited
    3. Giando Africa Limited (Trading as Flash Credit Africa)
    4. Jijenge Credit Limited
    5. Kweli Smart Solutions Limited
    6. Mwanzo Credit Limited
    7. MyWagepay Limited
    8. Rewot Ciro Limited
    9. Sevi Innovation Limited
    10. Sokohela Limited

    You can find full details of these digital lenders including their contacts and location here.

    While the process of regulation by Central Bank is ongoing, the Office of the Data Protection Commission (ODPC) in a notice dated 5th October 2022 said they are auditing 40 digital lenders whose practices regarding the processing of personal data has been raised to the data commission as complaints by various members of the public.

    Public Notice from the ODP

    It’s important to note here that Data Protection (Complaints Handling and Enforcement Procedures) regulations 2021 took effect on February 2022.

    With new regulations in progress, digital lenders still have a long way to go.

    On the other hand, opportunities in the digital lending space is still huge.

    Overview of Digital Lending Services in Kenya

    So, will the regulation by Central Bank of Kenya and ODPC help protect customers from Exploitation? Yes, definitely.

    To be honest, there is a lot of unethical business practices by mobile app lenders. This going by the ratings and reviews left by customers on the google play store on each of the listed apps.

    The most popular unethical practice by loan apps is them calling customers several times a day and sending them many threatening messages even before the loan deadline is due.

    This takes me to the big question which is, why did it take CBK so long for them to move and regulate the digital lenders?

    Were they speculating first on how they operate then proceed to regulate them in order to protect the public from exploitation?

    Well, this might be true. But let’s wait and see actions that will be taken against unscrupulous operators in this market space.

    What Central Bank Want Digital Lenders To Do

    While announcing their move to regulate digital lenders serving customers in the Kenyan Market, Central Bank of Kenya listed a number of key things they need digital lenders to adhere to when issuing credit/loan. This was gazetted in a special issue of Kenya Gazette supplementary No.45. Among these key things are;

    1. Provision of credit – A digital credit provider may set borrower limits in its credit policy and the limits shall comply with any requirements prescribed by the Central Bank.
    2. Credit Collection -A digital credit provider, it’s officers, employees or agents shall not in the course of debt collection engage in any of the following conduct against the customer or any other person:—
      • Use of threat, or violence or other criminal means to physically harm the person, or his reputation or property;
      • Use of obscene or profane language;
      • Make unauthorized or unsolicited calls or messages to a customer’s contacts;
      • Improper or unconscionable debt collection tactic, method or conduct.
      • Any other conduct whose consequence is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt.

    Take time to real all the regulations here.

    Do you think regulations by central bank will help protect Kenyans from preying digital lenders? Let me know in the comments section below.

    And if you need professional video production services, you can request a free quote here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.