How to buy airtime from mpesa without charges
Airtime is needed to make calls and buy data bundles and in a country like Kenya which has over 60 million active SIM cards, airtime is classified as a necessity. In March 2020, airtime was the number one purchase made by Kenyans, surpassing other needs like food and rent.
Safaricom is the biggest network provider in Kenya with over 65 million subscriptions, followed by Airtel with 16 million subscriptions, Telkom with 4 million subscriptions, and Jamii Telecommunications Limited (Faiba) with 263 thousand subscriptions.
One of the reasons why Safaricom is big in Kenya is because of its mobile money service-MPesa — a mobile banking service that allows customers to perform different financial transactions. In March 2022, MPesa’s active monthly users in Kenya grew to 30 million.
How to buy free Airtime with MPesa
In 2021, the Kenyan government increased the excise duty on airtime and telephone services from 15% to 20%. The 5% increase led to mobile operators like Safaricom raising the price of their airtime and data bundles.
It also increased the cost of buying airtime from different mobile money providers i.e buying Airtel airtime through Mpesa or Telkom airtime through Airtel Money.
An easy way to manage the cost increase is by buying airtime without additional transaction fees. Here are 4 companies you can use to buy airtime from MPesa for free:
Tingg (*369#)
Tingg, a product by Cellulant, is a bill payment and airtime purchase app. With Tingg’s USSD code (*369#), you can buy Airtel, Telkom, JTL, or Safaricom airtime from MPesa with no transaction fees.
How to buy free airtime with Tingg (*369#)
- Dial *369#
- Select option 3 - Buy Airtime
- Input the number you want to buy airtime for
- Input the amount of airtime you want to buy
- In the confirmation message, select option 1 to pay to MPesa
- Input your Mpesa PIN to complete the transaction
You can also use the Tingg app to buy airtime or pay other bills. All you have to do is download the app from the Playstore to get started.
Tsenda
Tsenda is also a bill payment service you can use to buy power tokens and airtime at no cost. It is a product of Tsenda Corporation Limited. You can use Tsenda to buy airtime for any of the major providers in Kenya (Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom, and JTL (Faiba) by sending a text to 40512 with your Mpesa number.
Your text should contain the number you want to recharge and the amount of airtime you want to buy.
Credo Faster
Unlike the first two businesses in this article, Credo Faster is focused only on selling airtime. Credo Faster, which is the trade name of Mawingu Airtime Limited, sells Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom, JTL Faiba at no transaction fee when you use MPesa.
There are two ways to buy airtime from Mpesa for free with Credo Faster:
Option 1
- Go to the M-pesa menu (*334#)
- Select Pay Bill
- Input Business Number 4024059
- Input your phone number as the account number
- Input the amount of airtime you want to buy
- Input your M-Pesa PIN and confirm the transaction
OR
Option 2
- Dial *264# from your Safaricom line
- Choose Option 1 if you are buying for your number OR Option 2 if you are buying for another number
- Input your mobile number
- Input the amount of airtime you want to buy
- Input your MPesa PIN and confirm the transaction
Jazapay (*415#)
Jazapay is a bill payment service you can use to pay bills and buy airtime. It has been in existence for over 5 years and it has over 300,000 customers. The only drawback with using Jazapay is that you can only buy airtime worth Ksh 10 - Ksh 10,000 ($0.083 - $83) for free
To buy free airtime (for all the networks) from Mpesa with Jazapay:
- Dial *415#
- Choose Option 1 if you are buying for your number OR Option 2 if you are buying for another number
- Input the phone number
- Input the amount of airtime you want to buy ( Ksh 10- Ksh 10,000)
Pesapal
Pesapal Mobile is a mobile lifestyle app you can use to pay your bills, buy airtime, book flight and event tickets, etc. for free. Although you can't use Pesapal to buy JTL (Faiba) airtime, you can buy Airtel, Safaricom, and Telkom airtime for free by:
- Opening the M-pesa menu (*334#)
- Select Pay Bill
- Input Business No. 220220
- Input the phone number you want to buy airtime for as the account number
- Input the amount of airtime you want to buy
- Input your M-Pesa PIN and confirm the transaction
Pesapal mobile may not be the best choice if you want to use the airtime immediately as there have been numerous instances where customers complained about not receiving the airtime they bought immediately.
If you would like to use the Pesapal app instead of its USSD code, you can download the Pesapal Mobile app from the Playstore and Appstore.