Turning mobile money into a card that pays online
MTN and Orange both issue a prepaid card against your wallet, so you can pay sites that will not take mobile money.
Plenty of sites will not take mobile money. They want a card number, an expiry date and three digits on the back. Both operators now solve this the same way: they issue you a card that exists only as numbers, funded from the wallet you already have, with no bank account and no branch visit.
Where each one lives
#12643#MTN: the MoMo virtual card menuMax itOrange: the app, under Orange MoneyOn your phone
MTN, from the MoMo app or the short code
- Open the MoMo app, or dial #12643# on the line your wallet is on.
- Choose the virtual card, and accept the terms when they are shown.
- The card is created straight away: you get a number, an expiry date and a CVV.
- Move money onto it from your MoMo balance. The card spends only what is on it.
- Type those numbers into the site you are paying, as you would any card.
On your phone
Orange, from Max it
- Install Max it and sign in on the line your Orange Money account is on.
- Your account has to be fully identified first. If it is not, an Orange shop will do it with your ID.
- Find Orange Money in the app and ask for the prepaid virtual card.
- Pay the one-off 2,500 FCFA to create it.
- Top it up from your Orange Money balance, then use the number, expiry and CVV online.
This is also how you pay for Fixamgo if you want a paid tier. The everyday jobs stay free and need no card at all.