So the official EcoCash App is a great alternative to USSD. The only problem with the application is that though it’s supposed to be zero-rated it seems your mileage will vary. On my phone it works quite perfectly but it seems all my colleagues have a hard time actually getting it to work when they don’t have data. In fact they were actually shocked when I said mine works for free.
If you’re having a similar experience you may want to use Instant EcoCash – which is a great alternative to the EcoCash app.
Why an app is a good idea over USSD
One of the problems with USSD is that you’re entering so many details at different steps and there’s a likelihood that you may miss something which is not ideal when you’re dealing with financial transactions. With a visual interface, that’s less of a problem. You’re less likely to actually make similar mistakes in an application which is why I always prefer the application route over the USSD.
How does Instant EcoCash work?
Instant EcoCash is kind of a hybrid between the EcoCash application and the USSD menu. The application just gives you a bunch of popular options such as Send Money, Pay Merchant, Check Balance, WhatsApp Bundle and so forth. If you select any of these, the application then just dials the USSD code for that respective function and you then you just enter the necessary details.
So how exactly is it better than USSD? Where you normally *151# and then going through with the USSD prompts for whatever function you want to complete, this then skips all those processes and just dials in the shortcode for you.
When sending money, you can also select a contact from your Phonebook which is a cool touch as you won’t have to remember that number by the head or even copy-paste it. There’s also a bank to wallet and wallet to bank option which is another significant addition.
If you’ve got a great memory and you can remember all 12 of these USSD codes there’s no need for this app. Personally, I would rather let my phone handle these kinds of tasks which is why I’ll continue relying on the EcoCash App and if ever that fails for me I will be moving to Instant EcoCash.
4 comments
Once upon a time there was an app that did this, then it was blocked by Econet. Just saying…
Tried it this morning and kept on giving error messages saying u use the long method….
No errors for me, just kuti they should just make the cash out option like the send money one, that would be perfect
I found one perk on activating permissions but otherwise it’s flawless