Recharge.com is an Amsterdam-based service for non-monetary remittances in the form of mobile phone top-up to your friends and family in over 30 countries in Africa.
How Recharge.com Works
The service has a very simple process of recharging a phone in a supported country. You select the country of your recipient and the mobile service provider on the website. You then fill out the mobile phone number of the beneficiary or your email address and finally make the payment.
The credit you send can either be used for voice or data. Note that not all mobile phone providers will allow the credit to be used for mobile data. You or your beneficiary can get in touch with the provider to find out how the credit can be used.
Have you entered the wrong number and this appears to be someone else’s valid number? Then you made a random other phone user very happy…We’re really sorry, but we can’t reverse the recharge as soon as a number has been successfully recharged. We’re obsessed with making sure you get your credit quickly and easily, so we do everything we can make the order process as efficient as possible. We’re very sorry to say that ultimately, you are responsible for the number you enter.
How to Pay for Recharge
Recharge.com accepts a number of payment methods. These include VISA, Mastercard, PayPal, iDEAL, Bancontact / Mister Cash, SOFORT, Giropay, Maestro debit card, Carte Bancaire, EPS, American Express, JCB, Diners Club International, Discover, Dotpay, and POLi.
How Long Does It Take for a Phone to Be Recharged?
The time it takes for the credit to reflect on the recipient’s phone depends on the information you use when making the payment. If you fill in the phone number of the recipient, the phone number will be credited instantly. But if you fill in an email address, the recharge code will be sent via email. Once the recipient follows the instructions in the email, the phone number will be recharged immediately.
Some countries have tax rules that apply to airtime or data top-ups which mean that the amount you receive for your recharge will be reduced by a certain percentage after you pay. By how much exactly? It depends on the country. Yes, the amount depends on the consumption tax (sometimes known as sales tax) percentage which varies per country.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any control over this, but we let you know on the checkout page if the amount you receive will be reduced because of consumption taxes, and by how much.
Recharge.com Fees
Recharge.com does not specify fees for its service on its website. When Africa Money Transfers contacted the company about its fees, this was the reply:
The service fee depends on the product, and is usually not calculated as a percentage, but more a firm price. This could be $1, $1,50 or $2 (sometimes higher, sometimes lower). Not all of our products have service fees, this also depends on the supplier/operator of the product. We feel it’s important to be open about this. Of course, you’ll find the costs in your shopping cart before your payment.
We charge these fees because we want to offer you the best service possible. On our website, you can order quickly and easily from any location, 24/7. We make sure you can pay safely and you instantly get your code delivered by email (and SMS). In order to be able to offer this, it is necessary for us to use service costs for some products
Supported Countries
You are able to use Recharge.com to top up mobile phone numbers in the following countries: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, The Gambia, Uganda, South Africa, and Zambia.