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 Vodacash( Vodafone Mobile Money product is still in beta) and Airtel cash is a more established Mobile Money product .

Please bear that in mind as you read the review

As i did in the first and review Tigo vs MTN  , I will categorize  my observations and thoughts.

Customer Onboarding 

Vodacash 

•  Present  an agent with  valid ID, date of birth and physical address.
• The agent enters customer phone number,valid ID, date of birth and physical address on his mobile device.
•  Vodacash send you a welcome message via SMS to choose a new cash PIN 
•  Now access the Vodacash menu after choosing a secret PIN

 

Airtel Money

 Customers  can register for Airtel Money by themselves.Its is the Self service approach , i have for years expected from the Telco’s.I congratulate Airtel on this.

• Customer dials  *500# in the comfort of his/her home,
• Customer changes the secret PIN and is ready to use mobile money.

Airtel solves the KYC(know your customer) problem by  using your data when you initially registered for the SIM card. That Simple…

 

 

 

Charges & Tariffs

Vodacash

 

Transaction Brands (GH₵)	Cash Deposit	Money   Transfer Registered Usered	Transfer   Transfer to unregistered Customer	Cash Withdrawal
– 50	No charge	0.50	1.50	0.50
50.01 – 75.00	No charge	0.75	2.50	1.50
75.01 – 100	No charge	1.00	2.50	1.50
100.01 – 250	No charge	1.50	4.50	2.50
250.01 – 500	No charge	2.00	6.00	4.00
500.01 – 1000	No charge	2.50	10.00	6.50
1000.01 – 2000	No charge	5.00	20.00	10.00
Ø  2000	No charge	6.00	30.00	15.00

 

Other Transactions
Transaction type	Charge
Buy airtime for self	No charge
Buy airtime for others	No charge
Check balance	No charge
Request PIN change	No charge
Request Mini statement	0.50p

 

Bill Payment
Transaction type	Charge
Vodafone Post paid	No charge
Vodafone fixed lines	No charge
Vodafone fixed broadband	No charge

 

 

Airtel Money

 

Send money to a Registered Customer
Transaction Amount (GH₵)	Service charge
0.01 – 100	GH 0.5
101 – 200	GH 0.75
201 – 300	GH 1
301 – 400	GH 1.25
401 – 500	GH 1.50
500 – 800	GH 1.75
800 – 1000	GH 2.00

 

Send money to a Non Registered Customer
Transaction Amount (GH₵)	Service Charge
0.1 – 100	3.5%
101.01 – 300	GH₵ 4
301.01 – 400	GH₵ 5
401.01 – 500	GH₵ 6
501.01 – 600	GH₵ 8
600.01 – 800	GH₵ 10
800.01 – 1000	GH₵ 12

 

Cash out Registered Customer
Transaction Amount (GH₵)		Service Charge
0.01 – 100		2.5%
100.01 – 400		GH₵ 3
400.01 – 500		GH₵ 4
500.01 – 600		GH₵ 5
600.01 – 1000		1.0%
Wallet to Bank
Transaction amount – GH₵	Service charge – GH₵
1.00 – 500.00	0.5
500.10 – 1000	1.0

 

ATM Cash out
Transaction Amount – GH₵	Service charge – GH₵
1.00 – 100.00	0.7
101.00 – 200.00	1.0
201.00 – 400.00	1.5

 

 

 

Value Adds

 

Value Add	VodaCash	Airtel Money
Top up Airtime for self and friends	Yes	Yes
Savings Service	Yes	Yes
Receive Money from outside Ghana	X	x
Pay Bills	Yes	Yes
Mobile Insurance	Yes	Yes
Lending Services	Yes	Yes
ATM Cash out service	X	Yes
Mobile Banking Services	X	Yes
Mini Bank Statement	Yes

 

 

 

 

 

In conclusion

Charges

 Vodacash is generally cheaper for larger amounts(from 1000 GHS ) and from the literature we reviewed,Vodacash has  a higher transfer limit than Airtel. This is also contingent on being a registered user or on the Airtel network.

Example of Charges at  1000 GHS 

Vodacash

Transfer Registered 2.50 GHS

Transfer Unregistered 10

Withdrawal 6.50

Airtel Money

Transfer to registered user  2.00 GHS

Transfer  to unregistered  user 10 GHS

Withdrawal 10 GHS

 

Smaller amounts i.e around 50 Cedis or less the costs are generally the same 
Example for 50 GHS

• Vodacash Charges:
  Transfer Registered User 0.50 GHS [2.5%]
  Transfer Unregistered User 1.5GHS [3%]
  Withdrawal 0.5 GHS

Airtel :

• Transfer Registered User 0.5 GHS [2.5%]
• Transfer Unregistered User [3.5%]
  Withdrawal 0.5 GHS [2.5%]

 

Innovation

Airtel Money wins on innovation with a  wider range of other services( like shopping online, depositing physical cash for electronic money (e-value), and mobile banking including the ability to transfer  money to your bank account participating banks are Ecobank,GT Bank ,Uni Bank,UBA and Fidelity .

 Ease of use 

 Airtel wins the ease  registration process because of its  self service  model which saves them the time and money and in convenient