Airtime as a public health incentive

Last year the Telerivet mobile messaging platform launched a new feature, airtime transfer, and in the last year we have seen some inspiring, innovative uses.

On over 450 mobile networks in more than 120 countries worldwide, Telerivet users can transfer airtime to help power their business operations, messaging services, community outreach, and marketing campaigns. 

New Incentives

In Nigeria, the nonprofit New Incentives is working alongside state governments and partners to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV and neonatal mortality. Through their conditional cash transfer program, New Incentives incentivizes pregnant women to access lifesaving health services that often have low adoption rates – including registering for antenatal care and delivering in hospitals.  The intervention saves lives by reducing neonatal mortality and the rate of HIV-positive newborns.

New Incentives’ program has positively increased the demand for lifesaving health services in Nigeria. In the state of Akwa Ibom, facility deliveries at participating clinics have nearly doubled from 30% to 55% following program adoption. In addition to improving health behaviors, cash transfers also provide pregnant women and their families with invaluable financial resources during this vulnerable time.

new_incentives_chart

New Incentives uses Telerivet to disseminate airtime as an incentive for women in their programs. Airtime transfers have become an increasingly powerful tool for incentivizing survey responses and for promoting behavior change communication.

Since New Incentives' beneficiaries are already buying airtime in order to make calls, send SMS, and access the internet on their mobile phone, sending airtime reduces beneficiaries' communication expenses, and is a practical alternative to sending cash.

By using Telerivet, New Incentives is able to reliably reach their most remote beneficiaries. “Network reliability is an issue in Nigeria, therefore we count on Telerivet for the messages to arrive for hard-to-reach cases,” says New Incentives Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Stadler. “Telerivet also saves us hours each week compared to our previous method of disseminating airtime."

Read more about New Incentives and Telerivet here

Sending Airtime for your organization

Each of the 450+ mobile networks supported by Telerivet sells different airtime values to Telerivet at different price markups. For some mobile networks, the airtime topups are priced at or below “face value” on Telerivet, while other mobile networks sell airtime at a markup. This month, Telerivet added thousands of new topup values, including small values that can be used to send incentives or rewards. In addition, the latest pricing update significantly reduced the average markup above face value, making Telerivet's airtime transfer feature even more affordable for organizations around the world.

To check the availability and pricing for the mobile networks in your country, visit the airtime pricing page.

In addition to Telerivet’s “built-in” support for these mobile networks, Telerivet can also integrate other airtime transfer APIs into your Telerivet account upon request (such as Africa’s Talking in Kenya or Selcom Wireless in Tanzania), for an additional monthly fee (learn more).

To learn more and start sending airtime today, visit the User Guide.

Try it out and email us at support@telerivet.com if you have any questions or feedback!

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