Airtime scratch cards infamously received a price hike and the uproar by consumers made many reconsider their stance on the issue. Apologies were issued and recommendations suggested just to bypass the surcharge by distributors and retailers imposed on consumers. Basing on where you stay, work or eat the surcharge of at least UGX 100 wasn’t well received but may find themselves paying it because they know not of any alternatives at their disposal yet these exist.
Actually they’re over five or so ways with which you can buy not just airtime but also pay for other services as well besides the traditional prepaid scratch cards. Ladies and gentlemen, here we go.
Mobile Money
We all know mobile money at least and overtime the service has evolved from just being a sending and receiving money channel to actually facilitating payments. Of these payments, airtime is now included and accrues no charge! If you want UGX 5,000 airtime, you strictly pay that minus any hidden changes involved. All you have to know is the USSD codes from the various telecoms. For Airtel and UTL its *185#, *165# on MTN and *144# on Africell Money. These USSD codes prompt the Mobile Money menu and you have to follow them in order to recharge. UCC had requested a unified USSD code across all telecoms for mobile money and other services but I guess we shall reach there.
Using mobile money besides not including hidden charges rewards some customers with extra top-up (Airtime) by some service providers.
Electronic top-up
Call it easy load or whatever but actually e-topup is where you visit an airtime reseller who sells you airtime electronically from their phones to yours in real time minus scratch cards involved. Envision it as being loading mobile money on your account but this time around the would be money is actually airtime. Many service providers seem to prefer this and are highly recommending it besides the mobile money mentioned above.
Point of sale terminals (POS terminal)
A good example here would be PayWay and other providers like Pebbu, NewPay among others. Here if you wish to pay for airtime, an amount is calculated by the merchant/machine, displayed for which you pay by either cash or card and issued with a receipt after the transaction is completed. These are common in malls, restaurants, petrol stations among other places.
Me2U (Read Me to You) or Airtime Sharing
Person A buys airtime on his number and wishes to share it with person B. All he has to do is to prompt the Me2U menu, input person B’s (recipient) number, input how much to send and then tap send. It however has its limitations on maximum and minimum amounts to share.
- On MTN, dial *160*6# and follow prompts. Both the sender and the receiver will receive a SMS about the transaction but keep in mind that normal SMS rates apply
- On Airtel, dial *100* select 7 and then My Account, Select 4 to initiate Me2U. You can alternatively send the money via SMS by texting 2U<space> 075/070xxxx< amount><space> password send to 132.
- On Africell, dial *143*Africell Receivers number*Amount#
Airtime loans
These are Airtime loans like the word loan sounds or getting airtime on credit and pretty much hinge on the traditional mechanisms of loan issuance. Expect terms and conditions to apply like being charged interest, a strict loans-repayment period and the average revenue per user (ARPU) determines how much of an airtime loan will you get. The higher you spend on your Airtime or other telecom services, the higher are your chances of getting a higher loan amount so these vary among other stringent conditions
- On MTN, dial *146# and follow onscreen prompts to get MTN Xtratime.
- On Airtel, dial *155# and follow onscreen prompts to get Beerako/Malako.
- On Africell, dial *155# or *161# and follow onscreen prompts to get Weetase.
- On UTL, dial *146# and follow onscreen prompts to get Topowa.
Electronic Vouchers
Here the telecom supplies ePINS normally printed on paper (vouchers) which are delivered to customers electronically of course after payment. The service is normally restricted to the operators service centers.
Payments aggregators
These are payments services providers that bring together or interlink with a host of providers (merchants) together on a single platform from which you can pay or receive money using a single account than having to visit each individual merchant and transact separately. These can be found online or through mobile apps and the user has to maintain an account with them to make this possible.
