USSD – short for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data – commands have been there since the first cellphone. They are the codes we have been using to top up airtime, buy bundles, check your credit balance, or even mobile money transactions (if you use EcoCash or TeleCash that is)
The main issue however with a lot of people is that entering, navigating menu numbers and entering them is that the process is a bit tedious. User sends command, gets response sends menu number, another response, another menu number and so forth. And if the network breaks in the middle of all that, it’s back to 0.
So how about making that process much much easier? I’ll share with you what I have learnt and now use. Please note though what I these have to be used very carefully, because if there is a mistake in the steps I’m going to share, some losses may be hard to reverse. Also, mobile money passwords, best to use caution (or avoid if not sure) as the trick will expose your pin.
The USSD commands are basically a string of codes and menu numbers in sequence followed by asterisk and finally, to have the codes processed, the hash “#”. So to buy bundles on the Econet network for example just use the following:
*140*1*1#
To check daily voice bundles
*140*4*2#
Buy airtime on ecocash (caution doing this please…)
*151*200*PIN*1*1*1*amount*1#
The possibilities are limitless! Try and enjoy.
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8 comments
Thanks………….you are a time saver
Priceless info for Windows phone 8 owners (Nokia Lumia, for instance)
So sending money to someone registered:
*151*200*PIN*4*1*phonenumber*amount*1#
I have tried and it worked. You can save it as a contact.
I’m sure you are not an IT person.How can you save your pin in your phone, you loose u back to square one BRO.kikiki Wakeup.
No problem…I choose what I want.
To buy data bundles *142*5# if its 5mb, if its 10mb just *142*10# and so on
Been doing this for a while – and with android, you can set DIRECT DIAL shortcuts which will immediately dial a contact in your phonebook. So I just posted those shortcuts in a folder on my home screen, even designed the icons (actually those are saved as the contact photos in the phonebook). Its practically an ECONET APP in itself.
These codes are not working anymore.
Please update for us.