Selling And Transferring PAYG Credit

Pay As You Go (PAYG) phone users can buy their minutes as they go. This means that the more (or less) they use their credit the more (or less) they pay. It makes managing the amount spent using a mobile easier than with contract (postpaid) mobile phones. Another benefit of prepaying for your mobile phone use is that a number of network providers offer deals for topping up monthly with credit such as free minutes or texts. These free incentives might be all or most of what a customer needs each month and so over time a substantial amount of credit can accumulate which is of no real use. There is now an internet site that allows this credit to be sold in return for cash payments into your PayPal account. Selling airtime can also be done on sites such as EBay, selling a PAYG SIM card containing credit that has been registered in your name isn’t really advisable though as it could be used for criminal activities. If the SIM card has not been registered and is not needed (in the UK this often happens as SIM cards containing credit are often bundled with prepaid mobile phones locked to a network provider), it’s likely that after fees and looking in to the prices paid for this type of credit its easier and as quick to sell your credit online with little difference in the money you receive.

There are a number of downsides to the use of a prepaid mobile phone such as higher call charges and limitations on where you can use your phone abroad (known as roaming). Also, in most cases apart from emergencies, when a prepaid customer does not have credit it means they cannot use the phone.

Transferring credit is something that has recently taken off as a way of sending money across borders without using traditional means such as wire transfers or using the regular postal system to areas in which it may be unreliable. Mobile providers have given subscribers the option of transferring their airtime to people or organizations in return for cash or just as act of kindness. The process of transferring airtime or offering it for sale to organizations is known as airtime remittance. This is a system that enables people to make some cash by offering their phone vouchers for sale. This program also allows subscribers to transfer their phone credits to relatives and friends in need. International workers can send payments via top up by giving there code to a business back home who will often take a small cut from the credits actual value before giving the remainder in cash to the workers family.

For ease of use and a quick turnaround however I would recommend that you sell your credit online via PayPal, airtime remittance is a complicated process and PayPal can be used to transfer money across the globe to other users who can cash in or use your spare mobile credit to shop at thousands of stores online.

Dale Bidwell is the author of this article on Sell. Find more information, about credit here