HOW TO LOAD AIRTIME ON YOUR PHONE WITHOUT USING AIRTIME SCRATCH CARDS IN UGANDA

Since the arrival of the mobile phones in Uganda, the subscribers in Uganda have been using airtime scratch cards to help load airtime on their phones but now the tides are against them. 

The Ugandan government has now banned the use and sale of scratch cards in the country and now very many people are asking themselves how they will be loading airtime on their phones as the scratch cards disappear from the country.

 For those people out there who do not have any clues on how they will be able to load airtime on their phones, today I go give you some great tips on how you can easily load airtime on your phones without using airtime scratch cards.

 Here are some quick ways in which you will be able to load airtime on your phones without using scratch cards.

1. Load airtime using Mobile Money

If you have been living in Uganda for some time now, you should be able to know mobile money. 

For most of the time Mobile money technology has been used for sending and receiving money among Ugandans but now that is actually changing as some payments are now being made through mobile money technology. 

Now one of the payments that can be made using mobile money is airtime. You can now purchase airtime using the mobile money technology. 

The good about buying airtime using mobile money is that it comes without any charges being levied. 

All you need to do is to know the USSD codes for the various telecommunication companies whose network that you are using. 

For example to purchase airtime on Airtel network using mobile money you will need to use the USSD code called *185# and this USSD code will prompt the payment using mobile money and so all you need to do is just follow the steps and you will be able to buy airtime. For MTN the USSD code is *165# while one for Africell money is *144#. 

According to the Uganda Communication commission (UCC), they want a Unified USSD code that can be used by all the networks and I do think one day we shall reach there. When you use Mobile money to buy airtime, some telecoms will reward you with some extra airtime top ups that you can enjoy.

2. Load airtime using the Electronic top-up system

This electronic system of loading airtime is commonly known as easy load but it actually involves putting money on someone’s mobile money account where by this time the money is only meant for airtime on their phones and not for mobile money specifically. 

Many of the service providers prefer this system and are recommending their subscribers to use the same system.

3.  You can load airtime using the point of sale terminals ( POS terminals)

Another way of loading airtime on your phone without using scratch cards is the use of the point of sale terminals (POS terminals). 

An example of the Point of Terminal sale is the PayWay and other service providers like Pebbu, Newpay and many others.

 This technology enables the airtime merchant to calculate the amount of money that will be bought by the subscriber and then a receipt is issued at the end of the transaction.

 The point of Sale terminals can be accessed in shopping malls, restaurants, and even some petrol stations.

4. Airtime sharing which is commonly known as Me2U

You can also decide to load airtime on your phone by sharing it with a friend. 

This system of loading airtime on your phone is commonly known as Me2U.

 All you need to do is prompt the Me2U menu by typing in a specific USSD code and then input the recipient’s number and then press send which will enable  the airtime to be loaded on the recipient’s phone. 

There are limitations to the maximum amount of money that you can actually share and also the minimum amount that you could share.

 Here are the various USSD codes for the various telecoms for airtime sharing.

1.If you are using the MTN network you dial *160*6# and then you will need to follow the prompts and after the transaction both the sender and the receiver will receive an SMS message about the transaction that took place and also the normal SMS rates do apply.

2.If you are using the Airtel network you should dial *100* and then you select option 7 and then choose my account  and then you should select Me2U or you could easily send the money also through the SMS platform by texting 2U<space>075/070xxxx<amount> <space>password and then you can send to 132.

3. If you are on Africell, you will need to dial *143* the Africell receiver’s number* Amount that will be received#

5. Using airtime loans

You can also load airtime on your phone by using the airtime loans that are provided by the various telecommunication companies. As we all know loans come with their rules and regulations. 

If you are to buy airtime using loans onto your phone, you will need to follow some terms and conditions. 

Some of these terms and conditions include, being charged an interest for using the service and also the average revenue that is generated per user and this will determine how much airtime loan you will be given. 

This means that if you spend a lot of money on your airtime or other telecom services, you will be given more loans.

 Here are the various USSD codes for obtaining airtime loans for the various telecoms.

1. If you are using the MTN network, you dial *146# and then you will need to follow the prompts to get the MTN extra time.

2. If you are on Airtel, you will need to dial *155# and you will follow the prompts to get Beerako/Malako.

3. On Africell, you dial *155# or *161# and follow the onscreen prompts  so that you will get  Weetase.

4. If you are on UTL, you dial *146# and follow the prompts to get the Topowa.

6.  Using Electronic vouchers

This system of loading airtime involves the supply of epins that are normally printed on paper and then they are delivered to the customers electronically after the customers have paid for the service. 

This service has been restricted by the telecoms to only their service centers.

7. Using payment aggregators

Another method of loading airtime is using the payment aggregators.

 This involves linking together the service providers and merchants on a single platform that you can use to receive and send money using a single account instead of visiting each individual merchant. 

These are found online or on mobile apps  and every user has to maintain an account with the telecoms in order to make it very possible.