Back in July we reported on the Paypal X / FNB competition to develop local adaptation of innovative paypal applications, and here are the results! Two up-and-coming star developers have created Billbox, a brand new application using PayPal‘s payment platform that offers proof of their formidable skills. Now the pair of Neil Koekemoer and Werner Janse van Rensburg have been rewarded for their excellence, and declared winners of the PayPal X / FNB Developer Challenge ““ the award for the most innovative platform using PayPal.
Billbox is an extremely useful application for anyone who has ever lived in a situation where they‘ve needed to split expenses with others ““ it monitors receipts and payments for those who share bills. Not only does it keep track of shared expenses, it also requests payment from group members.
Koekemoer explains how Billbox will be used: “œOur App is designed for people who share 
expenses such as students, housemates or holiday and business travel groups. Individuals can also use the application to track their own spending habits,“ he says.
His co-creator Janse van Rensburg adds, “œHaving shared bills with housemates for several years, we knew there was a need for a product like Billbox “• and we were our own best customers.“
The competition and award is part of FNB‘s on-going commitment to driving innovation in the financial services sector. The PayPal X Developer Challenge highlights the demand for payment enabled platforms and rewards innovative uses of PayPal‘s payments tools.
Interestingly, the pair, who are about to be flown by FNB to attend the PayPal X Innovate 2010 Conference in San Francisco as a result of their victory, only found out about the competition at the last minute. They heard FNB CEO Michael Jordaan and PayPal‘s Regional Director of Israel and South Africa Oded Zehavi make an announcement about it at the Silicone Cape event in Cape Town.
“œThree hundred and fifty seven hours later Billbox was born, just in time for the closing date of the PayPal X / FNB Developer Challenge,“ said Koekemoer.
