It is quite surprising to see that many people do not know how to recharge Telkom airtime on their mobile phone; for this reason, this guideline is written and published to show and teach you how to load with ease.
How To Recharge Telkom Airtime
There are six ways to load airtime on your Telkom number or line:
- Through recharge code using USSD
- Through your bank
- Through use of scratch codes
- Through Telkom App
- Through online ( Telkom website)
- Through Airtime Transfer
- Through Telkom Airtime Borrowing i.e. credit transfer
The proven 6 ways to recharge and load Telkom airtime on your phone are:
1. Load Using Telkom Recharge Airtime Code
The Telkom recharge code to load airtime is *188*, followed by the voucher number or PIN, and followed finally with the # key.
Please be careful as all the codes needs to be together, there should not be any space in between them. To use the USSD code to load your airtime, please note:
- This works if you are buying a recharge voucher
- You can buy the recharge voucher from any spaza shop, PEP, ShopRite, Pick N Pay, boxer or any somalian shop.
- In most cases, the vouchers are printed for you and you will see the instructions to load it at the bottom of the paper
In summary, the USSD code to load Telkom airtime comes in this format: *188*vouchernumberorPIN#; so assuming the voucher number or PIN is 1234567. There is no extra cost associated with the use of the USSD for this purpose.
Then the code to dial from your phone will be *188*1234567# and it will be recharged immediately.
2. How to load Telkom airtime from scratch card
The use of scratch card to recharge and load Telkom airtime is one of the oldest methods and often reliable, however, you need to be careful not to make a mistake by scratching off the code.
Though this method is not often used now because it has been upgraded to a printed voucher format as I explained above.
Follow the steps below to recharge your airtime using scratch card.
- Go to any store and buy scratch code for Telkom mobile, in some places, you can say eta etc.
- Mention the amount you want and it will be sold to you.
- Now, there is a silver panel covering the recharge numbers, you need to gently scratch this silver panel lining to reveal and show the numbers to load
- After you have successfully scratch it off, then you dial the usual code to load the airtime
- The code to dial is mostly in the form of *188*scratch card number#; however, in most cases, the way and how to enter or put the scratch card number is already printed on it.
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3. Load Telkom Airtime Through Your Bank App
This may be a big surprise to so many people. However, it is by far the easiest and safest quick way to recharge your phone from the comfort of your home, office or house.
Every major banks in South Africa has an App; from Capitec, Absa, FNB, African bank etc.; all you have to do is to download their App, install it and have it activated.
To Load Telkom Airtime through the bank App,
- Download, install and activate the bank App as mentioned earlier
- I am using FNB for example, so open the FNB App and login
- Navigate to ‘Buy’
- Open it , select ‘ Airtime And Bundles’
- Type the number you want to recharge, automatically, the App identifies it as a Telkom number
- For Capitec, Absa, Standard bank App, you select ‘Telkom’
- Select the Amount you want to recharge it
- Click Buy
- Immediately you will be credited
This same guideline applies also to when you want to want to buy data on Telkom likewise.
4. Load Telkom Airtime Through Telkom App
You can easily recharge Telkom using their App, to do that, follow the guidelines below;
- Download the Telkom Mobile App on Google Play, Apple store or the Huawei Gallery
- Install the App, activate and register it with your details
- After open it and navigate to the options to buy ‘ data and airtime’
- Chose your preferred package and amount, type your number , click buy and it will automatically load airtime on your mobile number
5. How To Buy And Load Telkom Airtime Online
Everything with Telkom is very simple; they make all these avenues available to you so that you can have peace of mind.
To buy Telkom airtime and recharge your SIM card online, follow this guideline;
- Go to Telkom Mobile Official website at : https://www.telkom.co.za/
- Look towards the right hand side, locate ‘ My account’, click login and you will be taken to the login page
- On this page, you can register if you have not done so or put your username and password if you have done so
- Once logged in on the website online, look towards the right hand side and you will you by options, hover the mouse over it and click on ‘ airtime.
- Select the airtime amount and the phone number and click buy.
- Automatically, your mobile number will be recharged instantly.
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6. Through Airtime Transfer
For those stingy people and or people that happens to find themselves in areas where they are unable to buy airtime from vendors, spaza shops etc.; you can recharge your Telkom airtime by asking for airtime transfers from your friends, colleagues, family and your spouse.
To recharge through airtime transfer, kindly read this guideline.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the number for Telkom airtime recharge code?
As mentioned above, the number for Telkom airtime recharge is *188*vouchernumberorPIN#. This is the main USSD code number.
- How does Telkom airtime work?
Telkom airtime can both be used for voice calls or data. To use it for voice calls, just load the airtime and to convert airtime to data, just dial either *123# for cheap data or *180# to buy data bundles
In addition, there also many things you can enjoy with your airtime, from games, entertainment etc; just subscribe to any form of content services you desire.
- Why is my Telkom Airtime Disappearing
There are many reasons why your airtime may be disappearing, but chief culprit is due to unwanted subscriptions, you can read more on how to stop all forms of subscriptions you do not want.
Conclusions
With this detailed tutorial, you can use any of the above mentioned 6 ways to easily recharge your Telkom mobile number.