Monday 30 September 2013

Where to buy prepaid electricity from Eskom online with your credit card [Solved]

Here’s an updated posting offering alternatives to PayCity that has now stopped selling prepaid electricity.SolvedStamp

My previous article “Buying electricity via mobile cell phone or online” listed many ways of purchasing prepaid electricity online and with a credit card. 
Most online sites offer the service for free and you still get your free units per month.
I was looking for a service where I could purchase electricity (for no extra charge) using my credit card.
I wanted to be able to use my PC or my cell phone's browser or use SMS to purchase.

Using my credit card is much more convenient (no more queuing for cash, and for purchasing the electricity), and so it's safer too! [those ATMs are becoming dangerous]

Additionally, if I run out of electricity in the middle of the night then I can purchase more by sending an SMS from home.
Oh, and the cherry on the top is that the bill comes at the end of the month along with "reward points" and even cash back discount.

Here is an updated list of sites that I’ve found that cater for City of Cape Town electricity:
My preferred choice, after analysing all the options that I could find is Powertime.  Their offering seems the most complete, with apps for most mobile devices as well as a nifty web site with add-ons like virtual meter and a graphical analysis of your electricity usage, and lots of energy saving tips.
A couple of emails to their support email address relating to credit card fees were answered quickly and with the requested information (and more).
image Powertime’s web site warns that purchasing using your credit card could attract a fee “… between 0% and 5% VAT inclusive of the transaction value”.  An email query later, and I found out that this service fee depends on whether the municipality reimburses credit card costs or not.  It turns out that there is no service fee for Cape Town meters.  To be sure, send them an email with your meter number and they will confirm the service fee.  
Note that the purchase of electricity in Cape Town has to be done via SMS due to restrictions set by the municipality.
You can setup SMS vending on the Powertime website in: “Electricity” –> “Buy Electricity” –> “Set up SMS vending” section.
(EFTs are all free of charge. )

The service is available 24/7 via the following channels:
On these channels, you can use Visa, Diners and Master Card credit cards or the PayGenius wallet, which can be recharged by EFT or credit card. You can also use Debit cards as well on the Powertime Web site.
Twitter: @powertime_za and Facebook
You can also pay your other municipality bills and cellular airtime too.
imageYou can even make some money by referring your friends to Powertime – Login, then follow the “Refer a friend”  link to send your friend an email.  When they spend their first R350 on electricity, then you will get R30 in your PayGenius wallet :)

Here is some more info on Powertime: 
https://moneysmart.co.za/community/2012/06/save-electricity-and-save-money-with-powertime
http://ventureburn.com/2013/03/the-city-of-cape-town-cant-keep-a-good-startup-down-powertime-is-back


Another company that offers purchasing prepaid electricity online and using SMS is ItronEnergy.
image

FNB
mobile: dial *120*321# from your cell phone and navigate thru the menus.
image
https://new.easypay.co.za/bmeter.aspx image

www.ibuy.co.za you can save your setting so that you can easily buy from your phone (no fees, as far as I can see):
image

Other options:
EFT only - no credit card: PrePaid24.co.zaimage
MyPrePaid.co.za
PrePaidElectricityMeters.co.za
PrePaid24Galore.co.za
PrepaidXtreme.co.za
PrePaid24Online.co.za


http://www.cellpower.co.za/consumer
image 
No credit card purchases, but EFTs are processed under 5 minutes (24/7). Also offers airtime.

4 comments:

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  2. Hi. I always used to get my 50 free units when buying from an Engen for example, but since using Powertime or FNB banking app (nice and easy, straight from your bank acc), I don't get the 50 free units anymore. Had anybody else experienced this or knows if this is the case? I'm convinced using these tools, only outputs your purchase, but not the additional extra. Please let me know your views. Thanks

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