NationHela Visa Card
There’s a new online payment system in town called NationHela which has for the past few days turned many heads and which as some of you may or may not have guessed, is a product of the Nation Media Group.
How NationHela Started
The nation Media Group observed that though their official website->www.nation.co.ke<- attracts millions of views everyday, roughly 50% of this traffic (mostly comprised of readers from diaspora) later on diverted away from the site to other sites where they could send money back home to their loved ones. As fate would have it, NMG saw an existing gap in the market and thought of ways to fill it. The talked with DTB (Diamond Trust Bank) about a partnership and Alas! NationHela was born.
The official launch happened on 15th August 2012, a Wednesday and bloggers were invited to grace the occasion.
As of 17th August 2012, the NMG website is ranked at 7,419 in the world and at number 9 in Kenya with a total of 3,431 sites linking to it.
To deliver a better review of what NationHela is all about, I visited their official site and did some digging. Below is what I came up with.
So, what is NationHela?
NationHela is a new innovation from Nation Media Group which allows people in abroad send money to their loved ones in Kenya from wherever they might be.
(From their website, they claim you can send funds directly from your PayPal account, Debit or Credit card to a NationHela account in Kenya Shillings. This can then be accessed via a NationHela prepaid Visa Card or via a mobile phone).
A prepaid card is one that requires the card holder to first load it up with some money before it can be used. It is not linked to your bank account hence it’s like carrying money in your pockets only in a much safer way. (E.g. like a KCB General Purpose card)
Where To Get The NationHela Card
The NationHela card is locally available in Kenya at all DTB braches (Diamond Trust Bank), Nation Media Group distributors, NationHela agents, Nakumatt and Uchumi supermarkets and all other leading supermarkets in Kenya. The NationHela card costs Ksh. 500.
Your card pack should contain your NationHela card, your PIN and a manual on how to use your card.
NB: You don’t need to have an account with any bank to get NationHela card.
How To Activate Your NationHela card
Dial *348# from your mobile phone. You shall be prompted to send an SMS with your card pack ID and your NationHela card. Once you activate your account, you will be able to receive money once or load it up once.
To enjoy the full benefits of your NationHela account (to either receive money or top it up without any restrictions), you will be required to carry out a one-time card registration exercise.
To register, simply visit a NationHela registration outlet (i.e a NationHela agent) and fill in the card registration form. Provide a copy of your Identification document then once registered, you will have full use of your card within 72 hours (3 days).
NB: The number of the mobile phone that you use to activate the card will be set as the default account number, so when activating the card only use a mobile phone that you want associated with your NationHela account
How To Top Up Your NationHela Account
You can top up your NationHela account at any NationHela agent or via M-Pesa. All these funds will be accessible from your NationHela prepaid VISA card or your mobile phone.
How To Send Money Online Using NationHela
Login to www.nationhela.com where you will see a “Send Money here” sign to the right. Select your country of residence, currency and input the amount you would like to send.
In the next step, you will be asked to confirm the amount you would like to send and be informed of the transaction fee. The amount that will be received by the beneficiary in Kenya shillings will also be confirmed. In this step, you will also need to confirm the recipient’s mobile number as well as their full names. When all this is verified, click on the “Send now” button.
You will then be asked to input your personal information, and select your preferred mode of transfer (Debit Card, Credit Card or PayPal) and submit.
Upon the successful completion of your transfer you will receive a payment confirmation.
MasterCard and Amex are also accepted.
Here’s a screenshot of their official site:
MPESA loading:
You or anyone else can top up your NationHela account through M-PESA.
How it Works
Log onto the Pay Bill menu on the M-PESA account and enter the NationHela PayBill number 516602.
Enter the NationHela mobile number to which the money should be sent and the amount to be sent.
Both sender and receiver will get an SMS confirmation that funds have been sent and received.
You can transfer money from your NationHela account to your M-PESA account.
How it Works
Dial *348# to access your mobile banking menu.
Select the SEND MONEY option and choose Transfer to Mobile Money Account (e.g. M-PESA).
Enter the amount to be transferred.
You will receive confirmation that the funds have been sent to the M-PESA account.
To access your account from wherever you are, you can log onto here you can access the same information via mobile by simply dialing *348# on your mobile phone. The customer self-care portal allows you to perform the following services:
You can withdraw funds using your NationHela card from any Visa branded ATMs anywhere in the world.
How it Works
Go to any Visa branded ATM and insert your NationHela card.
Enter your ATM PIN and amount to withdraw.
ATM will dispense your cash and give you a receipt.
There several other transactions you can do with your NationHela Card e.g. shopping, paying for your utility bills (i.e. Water and electricity bills), buy products and services online, transfer money to another NationHela account etc.
Visit NationHela’s official web page to know more about it.
Below are the associated tariffs
