Safaricom FLEX bundle is the latest product by Kenya’s leading telecommunications service provider Safaricom.
The product was launched on Wednesday at a colorful event attended by its top management team and held at the Prestige Plaza, Nairobi.
How does it work? Safaricom customers can now choose how to allocate their airtime for data, calls, and SMS.
At the moment, Safaricom customers buy data or airtime in fixed amounts but new bundle offers a flexible plan that gives users more control over how to allocate their airtime.
If this concept sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Airtel’s UnlimiNet allows you to call, text, and browse under one plan.
How to Register/Subscribe to FLEX
Once you sign up for the new service by dialing *100# (pre-paid) or *200# (post-paid), you will be able to convert your airtime into Flex units.
Select the ‘FLEX’ option which will then direct you to a window with the options below:
- Ksh. 50: 50 Flex valid 24 hours
- Ksh. 99: 115 Flex valid for 24 hours
- Ksh. 599: 700 Flex valid for 7 days
- Ksh. 2,499: 3,100 Flex valid for 30 days
Once you purchase you preferred plan, you can use it for calls, SMSs, and data. Below is a breakdown of what you can get with one Safaricom Flex unit:
- 1 FLEX Unit is equivalent to 20 seconds of talk time. This can be translated to mean that 3 Flex units will give you one minute talk time.
- 1 FLEX Unit is equivalent to 3MB data
- 1 FLEX unit is equivalent to 3 text messages
As a user, you will have the freedom to unsubscribe from this service whenever you want, buy Flex for other numbers, and check your units balance.
Note that while you can buy units for other numbers, you cannot transfer them.
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Safaricom states that users will get 35% more value when they use Safaricom’s Flex plan.
Also, the giant company has pointed out that the plan offers flexibility since you can use your bundles on any of the three given options.
Perhaps one of the most interesting things about this product is that you get 3 free Flex units for every chargeable M-Pesa transaction.
You can decide to use the three units to get one minute of talk time, 6MB data, or 6 text messages.
Also, if you recharge your units before expiry, your unused units get rolled over.
This is definitely a great instead of having to exhaust your units just so they don’t expire.
FLEX’s target audience
Well, while Safaricom can be commended for coming up with such a great idea, the question on the target audience lingers.
The least bundle now costs Ksh. 50 and is valid for 24 hours. Earlier, the least plan cost Ksh. 100 but I guess Safaricom realized that not many people are willing subscribe.
The question is: How much credit, on average, do Kenyans use on a daily basis? My guess is that most purchase below Ksh. 50.
Still, I really don’t see many people purchasing Ksh. 50 daily. That would translate to Ksh. 1,500 a month if one is to subscribe on a daily basis.
The price tags of Safaricom FLEX are definitely a bit on the higher side for the common mwananchi.
But then again, maybe Safaricom seeks to target a different demographic, definitely not the hustler. It’s too early to tell how the reception will be let’s wait to see.
