Here in Kenya we have the culture of using cash for most transactions. This is not a sin, others have been here before systems grew in and plastic money ala cards took the day. Kenya is still lagging behind with the adoption of cards.
Further, most of us are using debit cards as credit cards are still beyond many. It’s either expensive to maintain one or the majority won’t qualify to get one. So the clear winner has been mobile money that has a very low entry barrier. You would only need a registered SIM card, a phone and your proof of ID to get going.
This too has it’s limitations where it comes to international money transfer and shopping outside the country’s borders. Even within the borders, the process of mobile money payments is still not flawless. There is where pre-paid cards like NationHela come in.
Fast Rewind to my trip toUnited Arab Emirates
I did a whole week tour last week in UAE where I spent my time in two of the most famous Emirates, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And I did not change money when going, loaded it on my card instead. My hotel and transfers were already sorted, but naturally you will need to shop (Dubai is a shopping city), and dine fine. That’s where my NationHela as a prepaid card came in.
In my ordinary day as a Debit card holder, most of my transactions required my bank to call me to authorise payments. And sometimes when a user had been compromised we all got shut down and you had to go to the bank head quarters to get it reactivated. Nationhela is a pre-paid card, you put in the money you need to spend, so money in the bank is safe. 
NationHela card is VISA, so all those awesome burger joints accepted my card and I was home and dry….and well fed. We won’t go to the details of how I couldn’t keep my hands off some New Zealand grass fed patty burgers.
The alerts on transactions are instant on your mobile phone, so you even tell the balance you have after the purchase while you are still at the counter. The exchange rates are good and they are better than you doing forex exchange while there any day. All in all this is a medium I would use any day when travelling as the convenience is just so right-in-your-face.
