Bitsika: How to Activate, Send and Spend with Africa’s Latest Transfer App

By Gbenga Last updated Jun 8, 2021

Bitsika, an emerging fintech giant, assists its users with completing international transfers across the continent of Africa. Famously referred to as “Africa’s Cash App“, Bitsika also uses the dollar sign ‘$’ as a prefix for its usernames. I think this product is an excellent one, the brains behind Bitsika make sure to display your balance in the major currencies used across Africa (NGN, USD, GHS, XAF, AND XOF). This article will look at how to activate, send and spend with Africa’s latest transfer app, focusing especially on how you can do Bitsika.

Overview of the Bitsika App

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The growing frustration in Africa over the cost of transfer fees is gradually seeing an end, with innovations such as this product. Hitherto, Africans pay up to a maximum of $220 just for their transactions to move across home borders. Outrageous!

As mentioned earlier, the Bitsika App supports major currencies across Africa as it expands its database. This means you can play around these currencies seamlessly. The various currencies are:

Naira (NGN), US Dollar (USD), Ghana Cedis (GHC), West African Franc (XOF), Kenya Shillings (Ksh), Central African Franc (FCFA), Bitcoin, Binance Chain (ABCD, BNB, BUSD), and so on.

The ability of Bitsika to switch between these currencies is its most unique feature. For instance, you can load your wallet in Ghanaian Cedis (GHC) and buy airtime in Nigerian Naira.

For most people who need to move money within Africa, Bitsika offers both a seamless user interface and also the best prices.

How Do I Sign up & Set up on Bitsika?

The sign-up process is one of the easiest I ever came across.

First of all, you need to download the app to your device:

For Apple devices, click HERE, for Android devices, click HERE. Then proceed to sign up.

2. For iPhone users, you can choose to use your Apple ID or Google account to sign up. For Android users, sign up with your Google account.

3. Choose a 4-digit PIN e.g 0000

4. Create a username, e.g $amaka.

Once you are in, you will see your balances displayed in the various currencies (USD, NGN, GHS, XAF, XOF), a button to ‘Top-Up’, and also to Transfer to others.

After this, you are required to complete a verification process. The essence of this is to fulfill the KYC (Know Your Customer) rule which is regulatory. Without this verification, you will be unable to make any outward transactions.

The instructions for verification are clear and simple, thus providing much-needed protection for your wallet. You can fund your Bitsika account from your bank account.

What Can I do with Bitsika?

A lot. Some features of the App – Bitsika are highlighted below by Bitsika owner/CEO Atsu Davoh in a recent publication:

Bitsika as a wallet (and a crowdfunding tool)

You can deposit Cedis, Naira, Dollars, CFA into the Bitsika app and start spending and sending easily amongst friends. Every month, every user can spend up to the equivalent of $300 before having to pay any fees for that month. Every user also has a cashtag (username) and QR they can use to make internal transfers.

Internal transfers are free and never fail. No need to provide your full bank details or Mobile Money number to the public anymore (for giveaway or fundraising). Just provide your Bitsika tag instead.

Social payments

Every Bitsika user gets a cash-tag or username like $jesus, $gbengai, $atsu. You can use this username or a QR to receive money from any other person who uses the app. All internal transactions are and will always be free. You don’t have to expose your bank details or mobile money number in public anymore. Just use your cash-tag instead.

Create virtual cards on Bitsika

create-cards-with-bitsika — *Source: Bitsika*

You can instantly generate a virtual VISA card with Bitsika and use it to pay for your favourite websites and apps like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and everywhere virtual VISA cards are accepted. You can withdraw money from these cards back into your Bitsika balance at will. Create and top-up VISA cards with Cedis, Naira, CFA, dollars bitcoin and BUSD. You can’t use our card on Paypal, bettings sites, or any site that tries to extract and store the money from the card.

Buy and Sell Bitcoin Uisng Bitsika

You can instantly deposit Bitcoin onto the app and withdraw Naira, Cedis or BUSD. You can also deposit BUSD, Cedis or Naira and withdraw Bitcoin.

Buy and sell BUSD

BUSD is a crypto form of USD. Even though African banks are restricting access to USD, you can still hold your dollars in a crypto form called BUSD. 1 BUSD = 1 Dollar. Deposit Naira, Cedis, Dollars or Bitcoin to withdraw BUSD. Or if you have BUSD, you can deposit it and withdraw local currencies.

Buy Airtime in Ghana and Nigeria

buy-airtime-with-bitsika — *Source: Bitsika*

Buy airtime to any phone number in Ghana and Nigeria. You can buy airtime from your Cedis, Naira, USD, or CFA balance on Bitsika. More services like DSTV, water and electricity bill payments coming soon for Ghana and Nigeria.

Customer Verification

Bitsika collects your personal information like BVN, and National ID’s so that we can verify that you are the one approving your transactions. This helps keep you safe and helps us protect your money and identity. Once you submit your details for identity verification, you should get approved within an hour.

Referral on Bitsika

During and after registering on the app, you can tell us who referred you to the app and we will pay them $1. You can also introduce people to the app, ask them to enter you as the person who referred them. We will pay you $1 for every people you introduce who verifies their identity.

Customer Service

Any time you have a problem with a particular transaction, you can start chatting with our support team right in the app. There is always a customer service person online and they will be swift to help via live chat to solve the problem.

Fees Structure (Pricing)

With Bitsika, a user can spend up to $300 in transactions (Deposit and withdrawal, cards, airtime, etc) before having to pay any fees when you spend past your fee transaction amount, the fees below will apply to you. You get this offer at the start of every month. Exceptions are stated below.

This schedule reveals how much is charged from the sender after a third transaction.

Currency	Trxn Type	Fees	Does Fee Threshold Apply?
Cedis Mobile Money	Deposit	1% per transaction, capped at 30GHS	Yes
Cedis Mobile Money	Payout	1% per transaction, capped at 30GHS	Yes
Cedis Card	Deposit	1% per transaction	No
Cedis Bank Transfer	Payout	Coming soon	–
Naira Bank Transfer	Payout	0 fees	Yes
Naira Bank Transfer	Deposit	0 fees	Yes
US/UK Cards	Deposit	6% per transaction	No
Kenya Shillings Mpesa	Deposit	Coming soon	–
Kenya Shillings Mpesa	Payout	Coming soon	–
XAF (Coming Soon) / XOF	Deposit	2% per transaction	No
XAF (Coming Soon) / XOF	Payout	Coming soon	No
BUSD, BTC, ABCD	Deposit	Fees are deducted from amount deposited. BUSD – No fees. ABCD – No fees. BTC – No fees.	No
BUSD, BTC, ABCD	Payout	Fees are deducted from amount withdrawn. BUSD – 10%. ABCD – No fees. BTC – 10%.	No

In Conclusion

Bitsika has identified and solved the two major problems in pan-African international transfers – rigorous and difficult models of sending/receiving money, and pricing. The app has the poise to spread to the rest of the continent in a short while.