Phone in Kenya

0POSTS

6 years ago

Hello. I'm moving to Nairobi from the U.S. I currently have a Galaxy S9 through Sprint. It does take a SIM card. I'm debating getting my phone unlocked and bringing it to Kenya. Before I buy out my phone, I just want to be sure that I would be able to do that. Does anyone have any insight on this?

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Tefa Mah Member

16POSTS

6 years ago

Sure you can my dear ... in Nairobi you can do it especially in town

Longonot62 Kenya Advisor

1521POSTS

6 years ago

Shouldn't be a problem.聽 I use a UK phone, unlocked, in Kenya.聽 Lots of Samsung phones on sale in Kenya too, including the S9, if you'd rather go down that route.

Consider signing up with Safaricom, then registering with M-Pesa, which is a cashless mobile based finance and banking service.聽 You can use it to pay for almost anything and can easily top it up from your home bank account via a money transfer service, such as Work Remit, Western Union etc.

Tefa Mah Member

16POSTS

6 years ago

Tefa Mah wrote:
i think so

GuestPoster394 Guest

0POSTS

6 years ago

Thank you! Do you know if I'd be able to transfer money directly from my account, or do I need to find one of those services you mentioned...

Longonot62 Kenya Advisor

1521POSTS

6 years ago

To the best of my knowledge, you have to use a money transfer service for M-Pesa, but the transfer costs are competitive, as are the exchange rates.聽 Been doing the transfers this way for years.聽 You can hold a max balance of Ksh 100,000.

M-Pesa also offers savings options through M-Shwari paperless banking - interest rates up to approx 6.6%.聽 Check the Safaricom website.

ITS-ALI Active member

64POSTS

6 years ago

Hi Skyler

As I have聽 done this myself here is what I recommend:

- Go to your local service provider in the USA and get your phone unlocked,

- Once in Kenya, it will work with any local telco provider.

In Kenya:

- Sign up with Safaricom as they have a network which covers most areas,

- Also, the advantage of Safaricom is you get to enable a mobile money transfer account known as M-Pesa.聽 This is great as you have a mobile bank account on your phone and do not need a bank.

- To send money between the USA and yourself in Kenya, sign up with World Remit.

You can send money directly from the USA to your mobile phone account in Kenya in less than 15 minutes online.

Here is the link for world remit:聽聽聽

I travel a lot between Kenya and Canada and I follow the above steps which work very well for me.聽

Good luck

Ali