Mobile money

At a glance

How it works at a bookmaker

The betting account is tied to the phone number that holds the wallet. Deposits are a payment to the operator’s paybill or short code, confirmed by SMS in seconds; withdrawals are a transfer back to the same number, arriving in minutes on the sites built for the method. No bank, no card, no email; a feature phone and a SIM are enough, which is why this is the majority payment method in East and West Africa.

Deposits and withdrawals

The fastest payments in all our testing: under a minute to deposit, a few minutes to withdraw on Helabet and the local sites of the big platforms. Operators that route mobile money through a third-party aggregator are slower, sometimes a day.

Fees and limits

Operators generally do not charge. The wallet charges to withdraw cash at an agent and sometimes to send money; limits are set by the wallet and by local regulation, and are modest by European standards.

Verification

The number is the identity, and registration is often just the number and a PIN. Large withdrawals can still trigger a document request, and in Kenya and Nigeria a national ID number is now common at registration.

Taxes

Several countries tax stakes or winnings at source: Kenya deducts excise on stakes and withholding tax on winnings, and the amounts appear on the betting slip. The country pages list what applies.