The gaff - 30th November 2018
on: 30/11/2018 | 18:00
The gaff banner by: brulaw
30th November 2018/Issue #294
giffgaff Happenings
by bluemoonbaz
What makes us different?
giffgaff recently celebrated its 9th birthday and its mantra has always been "we like to do things differently". @aggy_agate would like to hear some of our stories and share them back to the team and other giffgaff members. She wants to remind everyone that small things have a great impact and that even after 9 years, giffgaff may have changed, but the members will always be at the heart of everything they do. You can share your giffgaff experiences here with the giffgaff team here.
Payback Charity Nominations - December 2018
Every six months, members collectively choose two charities, who each receive a donation. In 2017, we gave over £60,000 to each charity on average, an amazing amount that can make a massive difference. The members' nominations are now closed and are being counted, the top five charities nominated will go to a members vote that will be sent to giffgaffers by email shortly. So, please keep an eye out for it in your inboxes soon.
giffgaff: please stop messing with payback settings
@essie112mm has brought to our attention something that I didn't know happened. Essie says "In all the time I have received payback I have never changed my choice and I don't think that giffgaff should be doing it for me. Once an option has been saved that should be it, otherwise what's the point of a "save" option? And frankly, it's an intrusion into my account settings without permission". @alex_w says a full review of the entire Payback system is currently underway. What are your feelings on this subject? Should giffgaff be allowed into these settings? Share your viewpoint here.
Festive Delivery Period - Phones
@tommy_92 has news to help plan your purchases this year, he has the delivery schedule from DHL Parcel UK. To see when your purchase will be dispatched before and over the Christmas and new year period, head over here. To also help with the festive season, giffgaff will be extending the change of mind period for purchase made between 22nd of November and the 12th of December, until the 1st of January.
Lab Highlights
by as7861 & ijustcantdoit
Idea Updates
- The first update is about Free VM with or without credit if member has topped up every 3 months which has an update that stated that "it was not feasible for us at this time".
- Following on is another popular idea about call catcher and Recurring goodybag from credit. The update stated that the idea is still been investigated.
- The third update on the list is about the joint/family/shared account that has shared usage and spending limits. The update stated that they are still looking into shared accounts, but the shared usage added that complexity.
- The idea/frustration about members settings for voicemail getting reset if inactive for 60 days. The update on the idea stated that they are looking into why this is happening and if there is a possible solution.
- Nearly done, the next idea is about using your phone abroad at no extra cost (outside of Europe). giffgaff felt it was not viable for them to do so.
- Finally, giffgaff has implemented an idea about the confusion of usage on usage statement, which has now been fixed.
Showcase of ideas within Labs
The idea states: "We are leaving Europe. When this happens, we might not have roaming, we technically have had it at giffgaff for a year and now it might go. Can giffgaff keep this for its customers? This will also help generate loads of new customers". The members have given it a big support and as we seem on course to leave soon, should this be an avenue giffgaff should explore? Who would bear the extra costs to provide this?
The idea states: "Anybody with problems with reading and writing or whatever dyslexia it be handy if you could be some kind of app or something that reads the actual text for you to help you with long words and whatever else because lot of things I struggle with and I'm sure there's a lot of people on here that struggles with it as well maybe to go on the new app". This idea does have a solution for anyone who is having difficulties. What did you think? Could giffgaff bring this to our members?
Photo Of The Week
by brulaw
This week's featured photo is Froggy out today by @tinawilliams0410. Some of the comments included: "Lol good pic, I'm not a frog fan tho" (tonicurtis1967), "Wow that's a fantastic picture well done" (themzbiker), "That's magic... Where did you take it? An aquarium?" (jimvee288), "Aww how lovely, where is he?" (frenchielove), "He is cute" (bazthebear2), "Hahaha amazing!" (nkwong), "Nice did you buy him?" (stellamobile), "Love it!" (staffygirl2015).
Click here to see the original post. Once again a tough choice. Thank you, everyone, brilliant pictures, please keep sharing them.
Tech Developments
by revilo10
FinTech Mobile Banking - Too Far Ahead?
It's about time we returned to apps here on Tech Developments, so over the last few weeks I've been test driving a mobile banking app, Monzo. You may have heard of Monzo and various other 'millenial banks' such as Starling, Revolut and Monese, especially if you consistently use Instagram or Snapchat, these banks run intense advertising campaigns targeted at users of these apps. But what exactly is a Mobile Bank?
Monzo specifically is a small startup bank that was formed in 2015 by a group of young entrepeneurs, and to this day has been crowdfunded by a large community. It promises to streamline banking, reduce fees and just generally make banking a whole lot more accessible and easy to all generations, especially younger ones. All you have to do to sign up for a current account is download their app, enter some information and provide some ID, which they securely store for verification purposes. After this, a Monzo Mastercard (Which works with Google Pay and Apple Pay, so you can pay with your phone!) will be sent to you within a few days, and you can simply activate it in a single tap inside the app. But that's just the sign up process, what is it like to actually use? For 2 weeks I stopped using my standard HSBC card altogether, and soley used my Monzo card and app. You can pay in money at PayPoint stations around the country, and at Post Offices as with any other card.
The app itself is broken down into a few sections, Home, Breakdown, Account, Payments and Help. Home gives you a view of your recent spendings, how much you've spent today and your current balance, Breakdown gives a more detailed look at your spending. Each transaction is automatically catagorised based on where you have spent your money (i.e Gig tickets would be under Entertainment), this is already more than most large banks do in their mobile banking. Account allows you to request, send and recieve money, manage your account info (PIN nunber etc) and also manage your card (You can freeze it and unfreeze it with the press of a button). The payments button helps you manage your ingoings and outgoings, and finally the help tab lets you get in contact with Monzo and chat directly with them. All of this, and more in one app, that's more than I can do by walking into a bank branch, and that's the truth.
Monzo also has a wonderful community, based on a forum, which it's staff regularly monitor and participate in. In terms of fees, you can use your card anywhere in the world, and every 30 days you can withdraw up to £200 for free, no fees at all, after £200 you will be charged a flat 3% fee. Finally, you may have safety concerns, and of course I do to, Monzo is part of the FSCS, so your money is protected up to £85,000. All of this technology is very new and still has it's flaws, but I think if we give Monzo and other companies time, they can really grow something amazing.
Let me know your thoughs on FinTech (Financial Technology) mobile banks, do you like them, or are they too far ahead of their time?
Brought to you by willp789, mitchell98, bluemoonbaz, as7861, ijustcantdoit, kathleen414, brulaw and revilo10.
Previous Edition | Next Edition (7th December 2018)
on: 30/11/2018 | 18:07
giffgaff's 9th birthday, this years 12 month tomorrow - time dont half fly by. Look forward to the gaff each week, another 3 gaffs to Christmas!!!!!!!!
on: 30/11/2018 | 18:08 - edited: 30/11/2018 | 18:10
Cracking edition of the gaff
once again .
Yes and a big thankyou too
all who worked very hard to
bring this superb wee friday
magazine out .
on: 30/11/2018 | 18:12
@brulaw
@Mitchell98
@bluemoonbaz
@Kathleen414
@as7861
@ijustcantdoit
@revelo10
PHEW!
Cheers
Yvonne
on: 30/11/2018 | 18:54
not a great deal in the gaff for me to read this week but always a pleasure to see it here on a friday
thanks all involved
on: 30/11/2018 | 18:59
Hi and a very big thank you to all involved in bringing us this weeks The gaff. 
@willp789, @bluemoonbaz, @as7861, @ijustcantdoit, @kathleen414, @brulaw and @revilo10.
As always you bring us a fully packed and very informative The gaff each and every single week.
It is a great round up of all the news and what is going on in our wonderful world of giffgaff.
Thank you so much for all your hard work, it is very much appreciated.
A warm welcome to our new giffgaff members: @stebarley238, @canno39 and @orlf.
I hope you are enjoying giffgaff and this great community.
Congratulations to @tinawilliams0410 for this weeks photo of the week, a great phto
Wishing you all a relaxing weekend.
Kind Regards
a1antman