I have used Telkom Kenya’s utility app My Telkom for some time, and in that period, I have come to like some aspects of its offerings. On the whole, the app is packed to the brim with multiple shortcuts and services that are often difficult to remember because a significant of Kenya’s demographic, especially the youth, use more than one carrier due to different reasons such as price, network robustness and extras. This comes at a price because each operator has a set of services and products with dedicated USSD codes that are difficult to keep up with. Services such as emergency artime, for instance, have different names across Kenya’s carriers. Telkom Kenya calls it PEWA, and is conveniently featured in the app’s top-up section, which is what this article focuses on.
There are four methods of recharging your Telkom line with the app under review. Most of them are straight forward save for the third one that takes a number of steps to finish.
Scratch Card
This is one of the most popular ways that Kenyans on pre-pay top-up their lines. You only need to pick a card from a retailer and punch the numbers on your cellular handheld’s dialer. Alternatively, My Telkom app allows a user to input a scratch card code (just the numbers). Easy, right?
However, I doubt majority of subscribers would take an extra step in launching the app, wait for it load and proceed to top up. It is faster to just head over to your phone app. Nonetheless, it is should be known that whichever route a user takes, the process is seamless and most importantly, functional.
Topping-up via PEWA
As previously mentioned, this Telkom’s credit advance service. If you cannot tell the access code to use it in case of an emergency, you can use the app for quick access. Unlike the competition, Telkom credit emergency service is limited to KES 20 and 50, which may be a big deal for some people.
Top-up Online
This process is powered by PesaPal and the beauty of it is that users can top up multiple numbers at a go. The process is straightforward: you are required to input your personal details (email address, name and phone number), as well as the recipient’s number(s) (and airtime value), which can also be yours if you need to recharge your device.
The next step requires you to pick a payment option from PesaPal e-wallet, PesaPap, M-PESA, Airtel Money, bank accounts including those for CBA, Cooperative and K-Rep. VISA and MasterCard are also available. Admittedly, this list is robust.
It should be noted that mobile money services such Airtel Money and M-PESA will give you a paybill number, which you can use to top up using STK menus. Not the best implementation, but it is doable anyway.
Other categories such as VISA need additional information to complete. It is quite a lengthy process to top-up, but the big picture here is that these are services you can do with the app, or a web client.
Top-up via MPESA
Lastly, My Telkom app top up services from M-PESA and as explained above, a pay bill number is availed for its execution. Again, not the best implementation but it gives users a heads-up.
