Union Bank EON Card & On-line Shopping

The Search

About seven years ago, when I started dreaming on having an on-line store, I was forever in search for an electronic facility that would allow my planned on-line store to accept credit cards. I went to different banks in Tagbilaran City to inquire and even brought me to meet up with an account executive (of one bank) in Cebu City just to get answers to my query. However, information was very discouraging. Either the requirement was for me to have an ADB (average daily deposit) of at least P2.0 million pesos (that was too much for a little dream) or the system just won't work for me.

That search for an answer made me first hear about EON account of the Union Bank. The bank manager of Union Bank, Tagbilaran City branch explained to me what was it about. The features sounded nice, but that time, it was not the one I am looking for.

Years came and passed, the Internet technology has evolved a lot. Accepting credits card payments for an on-line store is no longer a difficult thing to think of because there are already many companies who provide such facility, without any ADB requirement. Selling on-line is already easy with countless of facilities offering affiliate programs, shopping cart softwares, eBay, Amazon and many more. And shopping on-line has become much easier and even more convenient.

My EON Card

Sometime in August, I was browsing on eBay (I have purchased a few items from eBay when I was in the US) in search for dresses for my granddaughter Babam. I fell in love with three cute dresses and I excitedly made a bid for each one. I won in all three! However, when I tried to pay it with my CitiBank credit card, eBay won't accept it. I was in a panic. Good thing my friend in San Francisco (who is also a godfather of Babam) saved one of the dresses by paying the dress himself. He sent the seller (also based in the US) a personal check. But I missed the other two dresses.

The above experience pushed me to find an answer as to how can I really shop through eBay. I made an on-line research about it and came over an article that EON account will be accepted in PayPal (a payment facility widely accepted in eBay). And I did not wait to long to visit the local branch of Union Bank account and opened an EON account.

Opening an EON account was very easy. I just filled out an application form, submitted a photocopy of two valid photo ID cards and waited for a little more than a week for my EON card. What was very convenient about it was that there was no minimum amount of deposit required. None. Zero.

Early September this year, I finally got my EON card. After activating my account (instructions are provided) I made an initial deposit. And the features that goes with the EON Cyber account is just great! It works just like a regular ATM plus it works like a credit card, though more of a debit card.

I registered my EON cyber account with my PayPal account. I just waited a few days before my PayPal account was activated. A few days later, I tried using my EON card in buying items at Amazon.com and I was so happy because the card was accepted as payment at Amazon! I bought Avent products (again for Babam): one set of Philips Avent Isis On The Go Set for $50 plus shipment; Avent trainer cups for only $7.99 plus shipment; and 2 sets of Avent breastmilk storage containers for $14.99 each plus shipment. I was so amazed with my EON card being accepted at Amazon.

As so it was time for me to try my EON card at eBay. And the experience was more than amazing. It was addictive (hahhahahah). In less than two weeks, I already have purchased more than 10 items (and counting) from eBay! Most of the stuffs I bought from eBay were signature clothes (Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Carter's, Levi's and Guess) for my granddaughter and an Affliction (brand) t-shirt for my husband.

How will these stuffs that I shopped on-line get to me here in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines? Well, it's the tricky part. I will just write about this in the next article.

Thank you Union Bank for EON Cyber account!

My house : WiFi zone finally!

When we were building our house, me and my husband made it sure that the proper cabling for telephone lines, cable TV and computer network system are considered and in-place. It was part of the plan to have all these connections in the living room and in all the bedrooms: our bedroom and in each bedroom of our three children.

It was envisioned to have television sets in each bedroom (and also in the living room) and each will also have its own computer/laptop, thereby the said connections are needed.

When we transferred to our new house two years ago, we only had dial-up Internet connection. We also get to use the LAN but not always though because sharing the Internet connection with the other computers made the Internet speed super slow.

Middle of this year, the PLDT made available of their MyDSL accounts for residences. We didn’t make second thoughts of getting one for our house right away. Three months ago, we had our MyDSL connected at home and since then, Internet use at home was never been the same.

My husband, who is a computer network specialist, installed a Netgear WiFi router (which we bought from Fry’s Electronic store in California during our visit there in 2005). And now, all of us in the family enjoy Internet use anywhere in the house and anytime. The boys had their PCs connected to WiFi and they enjoy their online games and visiting their favorite websites. My daughter does her Internet stuffs in her Asus Eeee PC: update her websites, chat, does research and other, from her own room.

My husband and I surf the net, do our Internet stuffs from our own laptops too, in the comfort of our own bedroom. Sometimes, I do my Internet stuffs from the dining room or I chat with my sister who is based in Las Vegas or check my e-mails from the comfort room.

Well, for a family like ours who considers Internet as part of each member’s day, having WiFi at home is just great!

High Tech Papa

My father is turned 75 years old in May this year. He may be old in age but he is never old in his choice of gadgets. For his cellphones, he always get the latest top model units. And he loves to tinker with his gadgets and he uses them with ease. He just read the product manuals and he knows how to use his units.

The gadgets he has are not just for showing.He really use them! And oh boy, he spends so much time on the cellphone. And what is very nice about it too is that we just give him a miss-call and he

Current Gadgets
iPhone - I think he got this unit the first time iPhone came out. He is so fascinated with this one and he says it is the best cellphone/PDA unit he ever had. He already ordered and is so excited to have the latest model of iPhone very soon.

This phone is very amazing though. One time, my father showed it to me and I was awed to see even the image browsing features. He just touched the screen and flipped his finger, using a jesture of slight scratching on the screen to the left or right, and stored images moved like pages being flipped. And to enlarge or minimize images, you just have to tap the screen using your fingers with the stroke of open/close. Way sooo cool!!! And of course, there are more features that the phone can offer that I haven't seen yet.

Nokia E-90 - This is another cool phone. My father got this phone not long before he got the iPhone. He used this for sometime. He said he liked this. Maybe its because of the notable user-friendly features of Nokia phone units. He still uses this until now, as a back-up phone of his iPhone.

Blackberry - He got this unit after he got the Nokia E90. But he didn't use this unit for long. Maybe it's because he got his iPhone soon after he got his blackberry.I think the phone is cool too. The phone features that it makes it easy to stay connected while on the go. You get uncompromising email, browsing and voice performance in one thin, stylish, lightweight handheld with a full QWERTY keyboard and many more.

Previous Units
HP iPAQ 6300 - Before other smart phones came into the market, me and my father got this unit in 2005. I think this was one of the first units that features WiFi connectivity on a phone unit. It was a cool unit then too.

Other phones he owed which I can remember were Sony Ericsson P800i, Sonny Ericsson P900i. They were very cool then too.

I already lost count of the other cool cellphone units my father had since the cellphone fever affected the Philippines. What I know is that he gets what is the latest top models.

You may wonder what he do with his old cellphone units? Well, either he gives them to any of his children or any of his grandchildren. I am one of those lucky persons who got one of his previous units. I got his HP iPAQ 6385 when my the black antenna of my own unit got ripped-off and the HP office can't repair it anymore. I am still using it until now.

Dream Gadget

My father is a bookworm. He is a kind of person who can't live without having a book to read. He loves to read and he does it anywhere he is. And there has been a lot of times when he lost his books because he left them at the airport, at the restaurants, anywhere. To solve this problem, he always buy two copies of each book so he has a reserved copy, in case the other one got lost.

Because of this other passion of his, he found yet another very cool gadget which he has been dreaming of having very soon. This is the Kindle. You can check on its product features and to avid book readers, this is indeed a cool stuff.