By now, the majority of us are aware that Safaricom refreshed its PostPay product to generally positive reception from customers. The operator, which has previously appeared to concentrate on prepay services with tons of announcements saw it fit to dish out changes to customers on the other side of the block, and we are happy this development happened.
For details about the announcement piece, you can refer to this story. Interested parties that want to leave prepay for the revamped PostPay – or those that are stuck in the older postpay (KES 1000 for 900 on-net minutes, 100 off-net minutes and 100 MBs of data. Take note of the data part because 100 MBs are not many for the stuff we do with our modern phones) can refer to this how-to post about the onboarding process.
With that out of the way, today’s post seeks to highlight some issues that some customers are yet to read or understand because while the product is straightforward, there are some elements that need more light, and you are at the right place for the reveal.
Right off the bat:
1. A deposit is still mandatory
You will still be required to pay a deposit before signing up. The deposit is based on the plan of your choice and plans range from KES 1000 – 10000. Therefore, if you need the KES 1000 one, then you should have KES 2000 in your M-PESA. Of course, this is a deposit, so it will be refunded when you decide to opt-out.
2. Flexibility and no-expiry
This is one of the most important features of the new PostPay: users have the power to increase or decrease their limits, and can just leave the contract if they so wish. Safaricom has also made it easier to exit the product via the *544# access code, or through mySafaricom app. Also, similar to folks on prepay, PostPay bundles have no expiry.
3. No Storo Bonus
This extra credit feature has been around for years now: pre-pay customers have a credit limit that once met, it rewards the customer with double airtime for calls before midnight of that day. This will not be the case with PostPay because you have been allocated bundles based on your plan. Alternatively, you can say that Storo Bonus is a prepay product.
4. International calls to select countries
Some people have friends and family beyond the Kenya borders. The new PostPay seeks to make phone calls a hassle-free exercise for select countries, meaning the minutes bundled with any plan can be used to reach out to friends abroad, which in this case is limited to China, India, the US and Canada.
5. No multiple subscriptions
Users cannot purchase more than one bundle in a single month. Which begs the question…
6. What if you exhaust your bundles before the end of the month?
Well, you will be billed KES 2.30 for calls, and KES 1.30 per MB for data.
Furthermore, if a customer has hit his/her credit limit, they will be tasked to load their M-PESA and proceed to buy a bundle of their choice. Users can also use out their bundle at their preferred PostPay rate. This case takes us back to the flexibility point, which reiterates that customers will not have limited options in case of a plan exhaustion.
7. Auto-renew is on by default
Your plan, obviously, will be renewed every 1st of the month. Then you ask: why 1st, considering some of you will not subscribe at that date (and the product was announced a few days ago – and we are midway in March)? Here is the explanation…
8. Past 1st of the month subscriptions
All subscriptions past the date 1 of any given month will be prorated (bundles will be divided proportionally, based on a unit of time). Say you are moving to a new house at the middle of the month. The landlord asks you to pay half the rent because you were not at his property for the first half of the month, which makes sense because why would you pay the full rent when you were not there at the start of the payment period?
Of course, you will be allocated full resources in the following month.
9. Sambaza, Bonga Points and Roaming
To begin with, your PostPay resources cannot be transferred to another customer.
Secondly, you will still earn Bonga Points after purchasing your plan.
Lastly, your PostPay plan cannot be used for roaming.
10. Billing, data manager and stopping auto-renewal
You bill will be emailed on the 3rd of every month. Also, customers are advised to settle their bill before 16th of the month, else they will be discontinued from PostPay.
We have also come to love Data Manager that helps prepay users not use their airtime when a data bundle has been exhausted. The tool will still be active upon joining PostPay.
Above, we mentioned that auto-renew of any PostPay plan is on by default. Through the *544# menu, customers can choose to put a stop to it. However, they will not be able to enjoy preferential PostPay out of bundle rates, implying that once the bundle is exhausted, normal data and voice rates will be enforced.
