South African consumers can buy mobile airtime with digital currency

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on January 21, 2010 at 12:20 PM

Consumers in South Africa who would rather not use their credit card online, or who don't have a credit card, can buy airtime over the Web or via their mobile phones without a credit card or even a bank account, Biz-Community Africa reported today.

Customers can buy airtime from mobile providers Cell C, Vodacom, MTN, Telkom and Wordcall using mimoney, or mobile currency, developed by digital agency Prezence South Africa.

To buy mimoney, customers can use self-service terminals at mimoney outlets, such as in cinemas, and pay with cash or debit card. They can also buy mimoney using electronic funds transfers from their online bank account.

Consumers log onto mitime.co.za to buy their airtime, and Mitime then sends an SMS containing a Recharge PIN to the user's mobile, which the user can then enter to add airtime.