I’ve seen a couple of innovations in the telecommunications sector targeting subscribers with a promise of more power and flexibility but what amazes is the rate at which such innovations are introduced. It’s no secret that not everything would be as successful as Mpesa, but we’d be equally be mistaken to imagine that was the end of innovations. Airtel Kenya has introduced yet one of its kind service dubbed ‘biashara mkononi’ – a service that would allow subscribers sell airtime right on their phones. It’s one of those initiatives Airtel targets to expand distribution of its airtime at the same time providing its subscribers an ample platform to do some business.
To access the service, you must have a fully registered Airtel Sim card.
How to use Airtel Biashara Mkononi Service
- First you’ll need to register by sending money to Airtel’s paybill nick name ‘PAPS’
- After the account is created, you’ll receive an SMS notification detailing Airtime stock and PIN (personal Identification number) which can be changed later.
- Airtime is given with 8% upfront discount
- A minimum of Ksh.50 and maximum of Kshs.10000 is required for the service
- From your phone’s USSD Menu, dial *500# followed by PIN provided when you registered for the service.
- To sell airtime, reply with 1, enter phone number, then amount and confirm.
- To get your airtime balance, reply with 2
- And to change PIN, reply with 3
Pay Bill Charges
50-500 = 3, 501-1000 = 5, 1001-10000 = 10.