Airtel Money accounts are used for easy payments in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, making their recovery essential. People in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda love using the digital wallet services of the Airtel Payments Bank. That’s because the process of sending or receiving money is beginner-friendly. Moreover, customers in rural parts of those countries may have no alternative. Also, various ways to use the product exist, including the website, USSD codes, and mobile application, and the account has various fail safes. Finally, customers have simple and uninterrupted access to the provider’s Customer Support team. Thus, if you need to learn how to recover your Airtel Money account, don’t fret. We’ll cover the whole procedure.
1. Recover your Airtel Money account by resetting your PIN
Contrary to what users may think, Airtel Money doesn’t employ e-mails or usernames as a main form of identification. Instead, it is tied to a mobile phone number and the mobile app or USSD code menu. Like many bank accounts, the Airtel Payments Bank account requires you to enter a PIN (Personal Identification Number) to gain access to their Money wallet. If you forget it, Airtel has provided a nifty way to reset it through a USSD code. We’ll demonstrate the procedure in two countries to give you an idea. To avoid redundancy, know that the procedure is nearly identical in Zambia as well, except that the USSD code is *778#.
Reset your Airtel Money account PIN in Kenya
If you can’t recall the old PIN, Airtel Money in Kenya allows you to do this to choose a new one through USSD:
- Dial *222# from the phone number tied to the Airtel Money account.
- Select My Account (the sixth option).
- Pick the first option, named My PIN.
- Choose the Reset PIN/Forgot PIN, the second option.
- To authenticate yourself, you’ll be presented with a list of security questions you picked when registering your account. Type the answers into the text field after selecting option 5 (Reset PIN with a secret word).
- If correct, Airtel will mail you the temporary PIN, and instruct you to call the number from step 1 again.
- You may be asked to enter the temporary code right away. If you don’t, repeat steps 1 through 3, then select Change PIN instead of step 4.
- After you configure a new main PIN for your Airtel Money account, open the My Airtel (Android) or My Airtel Africa (iOS) applications or the Airtel Payments Bank website and use it to sign in.
Generate a new PIN for your Airtel Money wallet in Uganda
The procedure of picking a new PIN for your Airtel Payments Bank’s Money wallet is similar in Uganda:
- Call the *185# shortcode from the phone number linked to the account.
- Pick the last (tenth) option titled My Account.
- Select the very first option, My Pin.
- If you know the answers to the security questions we also mentioned above, select the Reset PIN or Forgot PIN option (#2).
- Like above, after providing the word or phrase you configured to be an answer, the Airtel Money system will send you a temporary PIN via SMS.
- Dial the same number from step 1. Repeat steps 2 and 3, then pick the first option, Change PIN.
- After setting up a new PIN, go ahead and log in to your Airtel Money account in the ways mentioned under step 8 above.
Note. For security purposes, Airtel Payments Bank has limited access to the process above to users whose balance does not exceed 100,000 UGX (Ugandan Shilling). If it does, you must use the method below.
2. Contact Airtel Payments Bank Customer Support
The process above is straightforward once you have all the information. However, it’s not infallible. You can stop using your SIM card or forget answers to security questions. Users may also lose, break, or have their mobile device stolen, or hold excessive lots of money on the account. All these are reasons to reach out to Airtel’s Customer Service, in, say Zambia, by:
- Calling. You can talk to Airtel Zambia’s call center 24/7 by dialing 111 from an Airtel phone or +260 977 770097 using other SIM cards, including while abroad. Business customers should call +260977915000 and ask for their business advisor.
- Sending an e-mail. You can email the Airtel Customer Care team in at any time as well, at [email protected].
- Visiting a store. Drop by the nearest Airtel Service Center after finding it on the Airtel Store Finder list.
- Using social media. Airtel Zambia is available on Facebook (@Airtelzm) Instagram (@airtelzm), and Twitter (@Airtel_Zambia).
Note. There are comparable procedures for Airtel Payments Bank and Money wallet accounts in other countries the provider covers.
