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How Artificial Intelligence can Help Keep Your Financial Data Safe (Infographic)
Who owns Venmo?
Ever used Venmo? Yes? Then you might know how it works. Never used it? You might have at least heard of it through your friends or somewhere else. Still no? Don’t worry, keep reading and stick till the end of the article and you will find a lot of things about Venmo on your own through our article. By the way, who owns Venmo??
Let’s find out.
To begin with, Venmo is a mobile app. What kind of app? The one that enables you to have quick and simple transfers of money. Where can you install it? You can install the app through Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Who is Venmo for? Does it have a limit on the transactions? If yes, what is the limit? Is it Free? How does it work? Is it Safe? Trustworthy?
Whoa! A lot of questions? But these are the common questions we see anywhere we talk about some banking app or some app or company where our money is involved. We understand your concerns and are here to help you. Let us clear these doubts for you.
Like we mentioned before, Venmo is a mobile application through which you can transfer money quickly and without much effort. The application was launched in the year 2009, when its main target was the transactions between friends, like the splitting of bills for rent, movies, dinner, etc.
The application is only available for users of the United States. Venmo is a digital payment medium that largely is operated through mobile phones.
Since it’s a mobile-only app, you will have to install the app through the app store or play store. Following that, you need to create a Venmo account, Login to your account. To initiate transactions to other accounts you need to link your US-bank account, debit card or credit card. Currently, Venmo is not supporting any other accounts outside the United States.
Venmo acts as an intermediary and helps you transfer the money from your Venmo account to the account of another person. The money will be deducted from your Venmo accounts if there are sufficient funds if not the full amount will be transferred through the payment method you prefer (Credit Card, Debit Card, Bank account ). The app doesn’t charge any transaction fee if you pay through the bank account or the debit card, but you will be charged a 3% transaction fee if you complete the transaction using a credit card, which originates from the company itself.
You can also transfer money from your Venmo account to other bank accounts within 30 minutes using Venmo’s instant transfer service which will cost you a 1% transaction fee of the amount you wish to transfer. The minimum transaction fee for this service is $0.25 and the maximum transaction fee is $10. Otherwise, you can still transfer the money within 1-3 business days without any transaction fees.
Coming to the limits on the transactions that you make through Venmo, a new and unverified user on Venmo can make transactions up to $299.99 per week. After you provide information like Zip Code, Social Security Number, etc. the limit spikes up to $4999.99 per week and you can also spend $2000 on payments to the authorized vendors on Venmo that sums up the total limit per week to $6999.99. There are also limits on how much you can transfer to a bank account using Venmo. For an unverified user, the limit is $999.99, after the user verifies their identity the limit reaches $19,999 per week. However, the maximum amount you can send in one transaction is $2999.99.
Is Venmo Safe?
Yes, it is! The app takes extra security measures to protect your account data. It needs the user to enter their security pin to make each transaction on the app. In any case, you suspect that someone else is accessing your account you can log out from the device using the Venmo official website. Like Venmo itself mentions that the app was made for transactions between friends, it is safe if you use the app for transactions to or from the people you know.
Venmo wasn’t as safe as it is today, it had to face the FTC regarding its false claims about offering bank-level security to its users. The company later fixed the issues and now it is safe to use for all its users. However, being a bit precautious saves you any unwanted and unprecedented troubles.
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Who owns Venmo?
Iqram Magdon- Ismail and Andrew Kortina, two friends that met as freshman roommates at the University of Pennsylvania, are the founders of Venmo. They got the inspiration to create Venmo in the process of helping a friend start a yogurt shop and got finalized when Iqram Magdon-Ismail forgot his wallet when he went on a trip to visit Andrew Kortina. Whatever are the situations and events that inspired them, they finally came to a conclusion and developed the Venmo app and released it in 2009. 3 years later in 2012, the Braintree company acquired Venmo for the sum of $26.2 million.
The following year, i.e. in the December of 2013, PayPal acquired Braintree in an all-cash deal of $800 million. Venmo being a part of Braintree then, became a subsidiary of PayPal following the deal. With PayPal’s ownership of Venmo, a lot of additional features were added to the platform even though they share the same competitive space.
Wrapping up
Venmo is a mobile payment application that makes it easy for you to transfer funds to your friends. The app also lets you pay the funds with a message attached which makes the transactions more fun. The company is owned by PayPal since 2013 and is making the transactions easy, safe and fun alongside its owner PayPal. Hope this article has provided you with the information you were looking for. For more such articles, business models, and much more visit the Postling website.
Airbnb Review
Are you an office worker looking for ways to make extra cash? Then this article is just for you. There are hundreds of side hustles that will bring in extra cash in your wallet. With the cost of living increasing every day, having extra cash will not satisfy your needs but also provide you with financial stability. One of such interesting ways to make money is renting out your space.
You must be thinking, come on this is something that people have been doing for years. What is new in this? Well, the truth is yes, people have been doing it for a long time there is absolutely no doubt about that. Rent has been one of the best ways to make extra income for the longest time. People rent their property or part of the property. This is one of the reasons why purchasing a property is deemed an investment. Along with staying in your property you can also rent part of it too.
Another interesting way to make money from your property is hosting your house for guests. Yup! This is a thing now. Do you have an empty room in your house or an empty house then become a host. Host it to guests and make fancy income. If you’re planning to go for a long vacation or want to make extra money then this is one of the most efficient methods.
Have you ever heard about Airbnb? You must have. Airbnb is quite famous among travelers. Yup! No matter where you’re traveling you can find perfect rentals through them. They are an online marketplace for homestays, lodging, vacation rentals, and tourism activities. One of the main concerns for people while traveling is finding safe places to stay within their budget.
If you’re a solo traveler, your safety becomes a major concern for you and your family. However, booking accommodation can be more costly than you imagine. At a time like this Airbnb has come as a blessing in disguise for many. Vacationers can easily find accommodation or a beautiful location at a decent price.
Airbnb has been a golden finding for both vacationers and hosts. The vacationers can find excellent accommodations at reasonable prices and the host can make excellent income from this as a side hustle. A win-win situation for both of them. If you also have a vacant house or space on your property then this is your sign to make money through this platform.
Let’s discuss Airbnb in detail.
Let’s go, then!
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Airbnb in Detail
Well, one question that must be plaguing your head must be why Airbnb? You can just rent your property to anybody, right? Why must you go with them? True! This is the first question that needs an answer. More than 2.9 billion people are hosting their homes through Airbnb.
Over 7 Million rentals are listed on this platform. You can see how many people are trusting this platform to make good money. Well, this platform is available in 191 countries and more than 1,00,000 cities. It is not an exaggeration to say that this Airbnb has changed the way people are renting their vacation stays. No matter where they are traveling, be it domestic or international the first thing many people do is check for rentals or accommodations on Airbnb.
Another reason why most people are preferring this platform is while staying at the host’s accommodation they can experience local culture and also communicate with locals. This is why Airbnb is quite famous.
People are also preferring hosting options over other lodging choices. This is creating a lot of market for short-term rentals. The house owners can either rent a room or they can rent a complete house. The best part is the host can decide the term until which they want to keep their property listed. Confused? You have saved up a good amount with Airbnb Hosting for your vacation and you have also booked a beautiful rental in Airbnb, you have to leave your house empty while going on vacation. However, by renting your property while you’re on vacation you can earn some extra cash.
With all this being said, you must be curious how Airbnb works?
How does Airbnb work?
Finding your accommodation for your next vacation is now just three steps away. Yup! In three simple steps, you can find rentals or accommodations that are within your budget and taste.
Here are the three steps that will bring you closer to your favorite destination.
Browse
Book
Go
Browse
This is the first thing that people do once they enter the site. They can enter the location they are looking for rentals in. And once you enter the location you will find hundreds of rentals in your preferred location. Airbnb website is quite user-friendly too. Once you go to the site you can easily find everything that you want. If you want to find your perfect accommodation then you must apply filters that will help you in finding the right accommodation. Once you find your desired accommodation you can wish list it too.
Book
Once you have found a few of your favorite options you can now look further into these accommodations and learn about the property, host. One thing that you must not forget is to read the guest reviews and the cancellation process. If you’re satisfied with all these things then the only remaining step left to do is book your accommodation.
Go
On the app, you can connect with the host to learn more about the accommodation and locals. You can ask them all the questions you have about the property and they will answer you. If you need further assistance you can rely on Airbnb for additional support.
Since the pandemic, Airbnb has made health and safety a priority. The hosts are also abiding by this policy to provide a safe environment for the vacationers. They are making sure that the accommodations are well sanitized too. Also, Airbnb will be there to provide you with 24/7 assistance. They are at your service day and night.
Why do people host on Airbnb?
The answer is quite simple, they can make excellent income. Most people have some financial goals they want to achieve and with this plan they can make a lucrative income that will help them in achieving their goal. Above all, it is free to list your place on Airbnb. All you have to do is create an engaging listing post along with beautiful pictures and done. Your job is done, you just have to wait for the reservations to pour in.
Wondering how Airbnb will be making money then? Well, it is quite simple. They will be deducting the service fee from the payouts you will be receiving. This service fee is called the host service fee. The fees deducted will help Airbnb in providing their host’s community support, product development, host protection, etc. Always quote your price with consideration of the service fee because the payment you receive will be after the service fee.
Another important advantage for the hosts is that they can decide the rates. Cool, right? They can also modify the prices based on the seasons and the night. Confused? Well, some people charge different prices from night to night. They charge more on weekend nights compared to during the weeks. Not only that they also add additional fees such as house cleaning fees and extra guests. You can also use the pricing tools offered by Airbnb to set a profitable price.
Tip: While fixing a price you must consider the amount you will be spending or the supplies such as toilet paper that the guests will be using.
Lastly, if you’re wondering when you will be receiving your payments. You will be paid within 24 hours of your guest’s scheduled check-in time. For checking the transaction history of the payouts review your transaction history. Another important thing that you must remember is that the payout methods available will be based on your location. The payout methods included are Western Union, international wire, direct deposit to bank account, reloadable prepaid cards, PayPal, etc.
Local taxes may apply to your Airbnb earnings. So before you list your property you need to know the taxes in your location. You can also enquire from other hosts in your community. The hosts can either collect the taxes manually or they can use the collect and remit feature.
All in all, this is an excellent way to make money. Airbnb is a boon for both house owners and travelers. It brings both people with a lot of free space and people who need a free space together. One that you must keep in mind while booking a listing is to check the reviews of the previous stays. Yup! Although rare there are still chances that you can get scammed. Not only that for your safety and security read reviews and communicate with the host so that you have a better understanding of the rental and the area.
Effects of the pandemic on Airbnb
Pandemic has put a break to the growth of any business. One of the industries that have suffered a lot is the hospitality and tourism industry. Since the pandemic has been on the rise the number of people who travel around has become considerably less. Airbnb is no stranger to this situation, the cancellations have increased compared to the booking. Which was quite alarming as this would put the business in danger. However, Airbnb has immediately understood the situation and took responsive measures to make sure that they could reduce the damage.
Although the business has not yet completely recovered from the pandemic blow they have taken measures to bring business on track. And by June 2020 the gross booking has increased by 1%. Cost-cutting, creative campaigns along with new additions to the website like online experiences, and lastly their focus on the core business has been working well for the brand.
In the initial stages of the pandemic, when the cancellations were escalating Airbnb has used $1billion of their funding to pay refunds( even if most of them are non-refundable). They have done everything in their power to show their commitment to a company.
The founders of Airbnb have commented that the pandemic has provided them with clarity that what is truly important for them. Well, this statement proves to be right for not only them but for everybody. Pandemic has made people understand how valuable your life is and how thankful you should be for what and who you have in your life.
Is Airbnb Worth it?
Since you have made it to the end of this article you would have already understood everything about this platform. Airbnb is a perfect side gig for people who are looking for ways to earn extra cash. As a traveler, you can find cheap rentals for the night or throughout your vacation stay. Cool, right? Airbnb has revolutionized the way people are looking for their vacation rentals. Only prefer the listing from the super host or highly recommendable postings. This way the travelers can avoid being scammed. Airbnb has made a name for itself in the market. Since 2008 this company has slowly begun growing slowly. The company went public back in 2020 raising $3.5billion.
Wrapping up
Airbnb is providing travelers with a cheaper vacation stay. Most people who enjoy traveling are primarily concerned about their stay. The hotels in tourist areas are quite costly. However, Airbnb has come as a relief for many. People don’t have to cut down their vacation time because of the expensive vacation rentals. Also, by staying with local hosts you will be able to experience the locale culture too.
If you’re looking for a cheaper vacation stay that is reliable and safe then you need to check the reviews of the rental before you make a decision. Lastly, if your host and you want to make great money then you, my friend make sure that you comply with local rules and talk with your neighbors, inform them about this so that they will not be having issues later.
How To Become A Virtual Assistant (VA) & Start Making Money
Pandemic altered the way we work and the way we started hunting for the right job. Unlike the pre-covid times, our work life is not just restricted to the office walls. We are free to work from anywhere– right from the comfort of our home!
People have been exploring different ways to make money working from home. Professionals who want to re-start their career or people who prefer working independently are taking the path of freelancing or offering virtual assistance.
To become a virtual assistant, all that one needs is an active internet connection and a strong portfolio. Even beginners who wish to explore this option can get started by publishing their work online or by uploading their samples on relevant platforms.
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Who is a Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant is a freelancer who works in their niche on a contract basis. Many startups and businesses have tasks that require a shorter work term. Generally, they hire employees to get the job done.
But after the job is done, what next? To avoid these situations, businesses hire virtual assistants on a contract basis and get the job done. Virtual assistants work remotely and handle tasks that require minimal supervision. With the increased demand for this kind of jobs that can be done remotely, many people have been pursuing this path to earn money.
Here are the top 5 ways to make money online by becoming a virtual assistant
General Virtual Assistant
General virtual assistants are freelancers who provide services for administrative tasks of the organization. The tasks range anywhere from handling emails, customer service, query handling, to maintaining office calendars, booking tickets or other reservations, and enquiries.
For making good money as a general virtual assistant, you need to have good management skills and communication skills. Since this is a remote job that requires you to fill the shoes of an in-office office secretary, you need to maintain the records correctly and communicate with the stakeholders with utmost professionalism.
Even if you don’t have a professional degree, if you have good communication skills and handle client interactions well, this job is just right for you.
Writing and Communication Virtual Assistants
The demand for Content and Copywriters has surged like never before. Although there are literally thousands of writers out there, the opportunities are endless.
Everybody has a room in the writing space. All that you need is a niche and a detailed portfolio of the projects you worked on before. Building a niche and portfolio is a crucial aspect that many writers wouldn’t invest their time into. As a writer, your identity is your niche and portfolio. It is good that you have expertise in writing flawless content on every topic. But every business has a unique need.
More than versatile writers, they prefer someone who has domain expertise. The requirement for niche writers is comparatively more than versatile writers. If you want to make good money as a Writing and communication virtual assistant, build a niche and publish your content on platforms like LinkedIn, Quora, or on your blog.
Optimize your blog content and make sure that your write-ups are industry-relevant and trendy. Businesses prefer to hire freelancers and virtual assistants for their writing requirements as most of the tasks are need-based.
As a writing and communication virtual assistant, your major task will be to draft copies for marketing and promotion purposes. Along with that, one might be expected to plan content calendars, writing blog posts, editing, proofreading, and keyword research.
Design and digital marketing Virtual Assistant
Social media is not just a pass-time tool in this generation. It has become one of the most sought after career options among youngsters. Social media marketing is slowly becoming the marketing strategy for many brands and businesses. We know how Burger King, McDonald’s, Pepsi, and other brands have been leveraging social media for their brand presence and target marketing.
Almost every business has a social media presence. Although many brands have in-house graphic designers, social media executives, and strategists, for enhancing their creative arm, they outsource projects dealing with graphic designing and social media management. If you are social media savvy with a knack for creativity and online trends, you can monetize your skills and make money.
To become a virtual assistant and make money by designing creative content, build your portfolio on sites like Behance and update your work every now and then. As a design virtual assistant, you can work on projects of your choice– mostly designing a website layout, promo materials, infographics, etc.
However, as a digital marketing virtual assistant, your scope of work ranges from handling social media accounts to doing on-page search engine optimization, keyword research, and other digital marketing activities.
Data entry Virtual Assistant
Many logistics, e-commerce, and supply chain companies have a lot of transactions per day. Businesses like these proactively hire virtual assistants to enter transactions and related data into their systems.
To become a virtual assistant for this category, all you need is a good typing speed and excellent internet connectivity. Although a professional degree is not required, one needs to be proficient in the local language or English. Apart from the above-mentioned industries, data entry is one of the in-demand tasks among academia and research.
Students and researchers conduct preliminary research or surveys which compromises a lot of rough data. For data analysis, they need to segregate data into the set criteria. Segregation is a redundant task and generally, they outsource data entry and segregation to freelancers or data entry virtual assistants. There’s a lot of scope for these tasks and you can take up multiple projects at a go.
Wrapping up
In recent years, the demand for virtual assistants has increased like never before. To become a virtual assistant and make money online, all you need to do is- build a profile and grow your network by connecting with other professionals who are looking for virtual assistants. To know more ways to make money through side gigs, refer to this article on Postling.
Who owns Yahoo!
Yahoo! isn’t a new name for any internet user. Yahoo! search engine, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Maps, Yahoo! Answers, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Video, Sports, Social Media, web portal, and whatnot, it provides several services for its users. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and was founded in the January of 1995 by two Stanford graduates David Filo and Jerry Yang.
Did you know that Yahoo began as a collection of favorite websites of its two Founders Jerry and David? Yes. The website in fact was made to be their guide to World-Wide-Web initially and named so. As the popularity of the website increased, it further was renamed Yahoo! in the year 1995. Yahoo! is considered to be the backronym of “ Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle” or in some ‘Organized’ was replaced by ‘Officious’.
Yahoo! was the forerunner in its business for a long time and has acquired several companies. The company’s first acquisition was of a search engine named Net Control in the year 1997. Starting there, by the time the company completed its two-decade anniversary, i.e. by the year 2015, the company’s total acquisitions have reached a count of 114 companies.
Among them, few notable acquisitions include those of a mailing service called RocketMail which later became Yahoo! Mail post-acquisition and the acquisition of a gaming network called ClassicGames.com which later became the Yahoo! Games that we now know. Along with these the company also acquired the famous microblogging site-cum-social networking site Tumblr in the year 2013.
The company also released an instant messenger of its own on 21st June 1999. The company went on extending its business, as a part of it the company also bought 40% shares of a Chinese eCommerce company Alibaba. Yahoo! Also bought out Flickr, a famous Internet Photo Network. The company gave tough competition to its significant rivals like Google and survived through the collapse of a lot of internet-based companies in the early 2000s but went through heavy losses economically.
Yahoo! became public through its initial public offering in the year 1996. The share price of the company rose over 600% within 2 years of its first public offering. But who owns Yahoo! now? Is it still owned by Jerry and David? Or someone else? Let’s find out.
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Who owns Yahoo!?
We know that Yahoo! was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo, the company saw lots of profit under their ownership for several years and rose to greater heights. But the company was later sold to a very least sum of $4.48 billion in the year 2017.
If we go back into the history of Yahoo!, we see lots of ups and downs that Yahoo! has sustained over the years. And how it expanded its business to several other services and how many companies it has acquired and how it emerged as one of the top providers of web services. As a matter of fact, Microsoft Corporation offered to buy Yahoo! for an amount of $44.6 billion, but Yahoo! rejected the offer formally, saying that the offered bid undervalues the company.
After the rejection of the proposal, both companies stayed in continuous negotiations and they came to an agreement to use Bing, the search engine of Microsoft for the Yahoo! website and that it would also handle premium ads for the Microsoft website, which was scheduled to last for 10 years following the year of the agreement, 2009. Ironically, by 2011 the capitalization of Yahoo! in the market reached $22.24 billion, which is only about half of the money offered by Microsoft, 3 years prior to that.
In 2012, Marissa Mayer was appointed as the CEO and the President of Yahoo! After that, by the end of 2013, the share price of the company has increased to more than double its price. But it was not an all-up journey for Yahoo! under the leadership of Marissa, it has seen several significant downs that finally led to the sale of the company.
In 2016, Verizon Media announced that it is gonna acquire Yahoo!’s core business, for $4.83 billion and that Yahoo! would operate as a separate entity under ‘Oath’, which was newly formed and also included AOL and HuffPost along with Yahoo!, all three separate entities under the name Oath. But following that a major security data breach happened at Yahoo! In which sensitive information of about a billion customers was obtained by the hackers. Taking this into consideration Verizon media reduced the amount it offered before by $350 million and completed the deal at $4.48 billion in June 2017.
Wrapping up
Yahoo!, though was worth a lot of money during the peaks of its business, has suffered significant losses and was sold to Verizon media for the sum of $4.48 billion. The stock that Yahoo! Purchased in the Chinese eCommerce company Alibaba, was not part of the deal with Verizon. Alibaba along with few other portions of Yahoo! That were not part of the deal was operated under a separate execution named Altaba until the shares of Alibaba were sold. Later the reformed company Altaba liquified and made a distribution to its stockholders.
That’s all about Yahoo! and its ownership. To read more such articles, business models and much more visit the Postling website.
