Vodacom customers can now use their cellphones to buy airtime, data bundles and SMS bundles.
SA's first cellphone operator today announced that customers who bank with Absa, Standard Bank and Nedbank can use their debit, cheque or credit card to pay for prepaid services via their cellphone. The other of SA's big four banks, First National Bank (FNB), has offered the service to cellphone users via its mobile banking application since its launch in July last year.
Vodacom says the service was developed in conjunction with Absa, which is the enabler and provider of the financial backend of the service, to ensure seamless and secure processing of the transactions.
“The new Vodacom Express Recharge is a convenient and secure service that is verified by a bankcard's personal identification number. Customers do not need Internet access in order to buy airtime using funds from their bank account.”
Managing executive for commercial development at Vodacom, Chris Ross, says the operator has also added a new feature that allows customers to choose between purchasing voice airtime, SMS or data bundles. “[This] means that our customers will not need to convert airtime to data bundles.”
Arrie Rautenbach, Absa's head of retail markets, says the bank is aware that not all customers have access to Internet and/or cellphone banking, and thus cannot purchase airtime via Absa's digital channels. “Customers can now enjoy the convenience provided by the Vodacom Express Recharge service that uses the specific dial-in code to facilitate the payment.”
Rautenbach says Absa plans to extend the service to other merchants, products and services, but “initially, our mobile merchant service will be used with Vodacom Express Recharge for purchasing prepaid airtime, SMS and data bundles.”
Vodacom Express Recharge is a free service that links a customer's bankcard to their cellphone. The recharge purchased is deducted from the user's bank account and bank card charges apply.
To access the recharge service, customers need to dial *130*082# and follow the voice prompts.
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