Wholesale airtime buying guide for South African businesses
Give each wholesaler the same order to quote. Ask what your business will pay after fees, when you have to fund the account, and how your staff can check an order that gets stuck. The quote tells you what the airtime costs. A sample order and statement show how much work it takes to buy and reconcile it.
Supplier comparison at a glance
| Check | Record for every supplier |
|---|---|
| Product fit | Networks, product types, denominations and delivery method |
| Commercials | Face value, discount or fee, minimums, funding and invoicing terms |
| Operations | Order references, status evidence, reports and support route |
| Controls | User access, approvals, limits, duplicate handling and audit trail |
| Exit | Balance settlement, data export, access removal and transition support |
By Freepaid · Updated
What your business needs to buy
Write down what the airtime is for and how it reaches the recipient. A retailer may need a till workflow and a way to reconcile sales by cashier. An employer may need approved allocations by person or branch. A campaign team may need to distribute rewards against an eligibility list. Those three teams need different records from the same purchase.
Estimate a normal month's quantity by product and denomination. Separate known demand from a buffer. If you have no history, collect a sample from actual sales or allocations and label the forecast provisional. Ask each supplier to quote the same basket and state whether quoted amounts are face value or payable amounts.
Compare quotes on equal terms
Say you need R10,000 in airtime a month. In this example, a supplier offering 2% off with no additional fee would charge R9,800. A supplier charging face value plus a R50 account fee would charge R10,050. Confirm the actual price basis, taxes, fees, minimums and conditions in writing. If the offers cover different products, networks, settlement timing or support, they are not yet like-for-like.
Ask each supplier to show the payable amount for your exact basket and explain variable charges. Check whether funding must be available before ordering, whether invoicing is available to your account, and when unused balances can be withdrawn or transferred. Do not assume that “wholesale” means a particular discount or credit term.
Test the working process before committing
Request a demonstration or a small approved pilot. Use a test record you control, agree the spend and scope in advance, and keep the supplier reference. Check who can create and approve an order, where its status appears, what the report contains and how a pending result is investigated. Do not test with a real customer or employee record without authority.
For a batch, ask how the supplier identifies each row and reports partial outcomes. For a till, ask how a cashier gets a customer receipt and what they should do if the screen does not confirm success. The process should prevent a second order while the first may still be processing.
Run a sample close before approving the account
Give each shortlisted supplier the same sample day. Include one completed order, one rejection and one order awaiting a result. Ask for a sample export with the order identifiers and a statement or wallet view showing how the supplier records the charge. Have the buyer find the original order and ask finance to explain the balance using only the evidence the supplier provides.
A R250 saving can disappear quickly if finance has to match each order to a debit by hand. Use the sample close to see what that work involves and decide whether the supplier’s report is good enough to use. Keep the quote, sample report and approval decision together. Freepaid's public airtime API guide shows examples of checking balances, placing orders and querying an order. Ask for the same demonstration on the product and account you intend to use. Freepaid airtime API
Supplier due diligence checklist
- Confirm the legal contracting entity and account owner responsible for the relationship.
- Get a written product and network list for your intended use, plus any restrictions or change-notice process.
- Ask for the complete price basis, funding rules, minimums, settlement timing and invoice evidence.
- Confirm named support channels, operating hours, escalation contacts and the evidence support needs.
- Review access roles, authentication, approval steps and any transaction limits available.
- Inspect a sample transaction export and statement. Check whether you can match your reference, supplier reference, amount, product, time and outcome.
- Agree how pending, failed, reversed or disputed items are handled and who owns each next step.
- Document account closure, remaining balance treatment, access removal and report export before signing.
Use a comparison sheet in the supplier meeting
Ask each supplier to quote the same basket and return the same report for a sample run. Keep a row for each source of cost or uncertainty. Enter the answer as a number, a named document or an open question with an owner.
| Evaluation item | Ask each supplier for | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|---|
| Basket | Exact products, networks and values available to your account | Dated product list and exclusions |
| Purchase cost | Amount debited for that basket and any separate charges | Written quote, including how tax is shown |
| Funding | When a payment clears, how to identify it and how to confirm available balance | Example funding acknowledgement and wallet statement |
| Exceptions | What a missing response means and how to query the original order | Sample status report with original references |
| Reporting | A sample export finance can match to invoices and credits | Sample export, statement and invoice layout |
| Service | Who handles a bad outcome and when to expect an update | Support contact, escalation path and service terms |
Approve the evaluation before collecting the bids. A retailer might put availability, cost and shift support first. A distributor with several branches may give greater weight to reference quality and how quickly finance can close each day. Document the weighting so a favourable quote cannot obscure a failed requirement. Keep any minimum conditions separate from the scored criteria. For example, reject a bid that cannot produce traceable order records even if its headline price is attractive.
Trial the basket with authorised test cases. Record any delay, manual intervention or unconfirmed status and see how the supplier's report represents it. Use the same test cases and evidence requirements for each supplier. Where a capability cannot be demonstrated, record it as open and confirm it in writing before relying on it.
For business purchasing options, see Freepaid bulk airtime. Confirm current product availability, pricing and account terms directly before ordering.
More in this series
- How to compare bulk airtime quotes on the same basis
- Airtime wholesaler, distributor or reseller?
- How to run a small bulk airtime pilot before committing
- What to ask about airtime availability before signing a supply deal
- What belongs in a prepaid airtime supplier SLA?
- How to assess wholesale airtime support before you buy
- How to set up a backup airtime supplier
- How to forecast monthly wholesale airtime volume
- Switching airtime suppliers without disrupting sales
- Reconcile prepaid airtime purchases at month-end