Kopa Credo is Airtel’s Kenya emergency airtime service in the same vein with Telkom’s Pewa and Safaricom’s Okoa Jahazi. Using Kopa Credo you can get advance airtime if you’ve exhausted your credit or if your balance is too low to access a particular service. You can then afterwards repay this debt but you’ll incur a small charge for using the service.
The advance airtime can be spent on any of Airtel’s products including calls (on-net and off-net), international calls, SMS, data bundles and promotions. Airtel have since however introduced Kopa Internet and Kopa UnlimiNet which allow you to get advances on data bundles and UnlimiNet plans respectively. Let’s see how we access these Kopa services.
Eligibility to Access Kopa Services
Not everyone may be eligible for Kopa Credo. The service is open to all of Airtel’s Prepaid subscribers but you must have been on the network for at least one month. You must also be an active user, and active here means that you top up that line regularly. Also unlike other networks, you can borrow airtime irrespective of your current balance.
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| Min. One Month to Qualify |
On the other hand, if you’ve an outstanding Kopa Credo debt that you haven’t yet paid, you won’t be able to access the service until you’ve settled it.
Activating Kopa Services
If you’re eligible you can go ahead and access the service by dialling *310# on your Airtel Kenya line. In the menu there you’ll get the three options:
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| Kopa Services |
Kopa Credo
With Kopa Credo you can borrow various amounts with which you can spend on any services you wish. The amounts available for borrowing include:
- KSh.5
- KSh.10
- KSh.20
- KSh.50
- KSh.100
- KSh.250
- KSh.500
- KSh.1000
The amounts available for you will depend on how much you spend on that line.
Kopa Internet
Kopa Internet allows you to get advance bundles at a slightly higher rate. Some of the available advance bundles include:
- 6MB at KSh.5
- 15MB at KSh.10
- 20MB at KSh.20
- 50MB at KSh.50
- 100MB at KSh.100
As you can tell, the bundles are priced at a much higher rate here. Using the advance airtime to buy the bundles may however not be a better alternative since the airtime is deducted prior to using it (check below).
Kopa UnlimiNet
This one allows you to get advance UnlimiNet plans which come with voice, data and SMS. The daily, weekly and monthly UnlimiNet plans can be borrowed however their availability will depend on how much you spend on that line.
So don’t get excited that you can borrow UnlimiNet 1000 yet you hardly spend Ksh.50 on that line weekly.
Repaying Kopa Services
Both Kopa Credo and Kopa Internet are to be repaid within 3 days (72hrs). The amount will be deducted automatically the moment you top up or receive a ME2U (Airtel’s Sambaza/Airtime transfer) from another number.
With Kopa UnlimiNet I presume the period is determined by the validity period of the specific plan.
Charges
Airtel charges either 10% or 20% fee on the amount borrowed. The 20% fee is reserved for the Ksh.5 advance while the rest (Ksh.10 – Ksh.1000) are charged a 10% fee.
The amount is however deducted from the advance airtime and not on the repayment top up. So if you borrow Ksh.5 airtime what you’ll actually get is Ksh.4. Ksh.50 will get you Ksh.45 while Ksh.100 gets you Ksh.90. This way, the next time you top they will make back the amount they credited you with plus make an interest.
With regards to the bundles, your bundles won’t be deducted since they’re already lesser than what you’d normally get with the same money.
Checking Balance
To check your Kopa Credo balance, just dial the normal balance enquiry: *131#. For data bundles and UnlimiNet, check the balances using *544*3#.
Defaulting and Outstanding Debts
If you don’t pay back the amount owed within the given period (72hrs), you’ll still be able to use your line but won’t be able to access the Kopa services until the debt is settled.
To check if you’ve an unpaid Kopa service debt, dial *310# then select Check Debt. If you’ve one, in the same menu go to Repay Advance and clear your debt.
So basically that’s it. If by chance you’re thinking of using these Kopa service because you can’t find credit in the shops, you could try using Airtel money. If you don’t have that either, you can use M-PESA or Mula to buy airtime for your Airtel line using various payment options without incurring any transaction charges for all amounts.
