Shoprite has started selling prepaid airtime, data and digital vouchers through its Sixty60 on-demand shopping app, TechCentral reported.
Customers can buy airtime and data for Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, Cell C and Shoprite’s own K’nect mobile network in the app. Vouchers for Apple’s App Store, Google Play, Uber and PlayStation are also on offer, the group said in a statement.
Purchases are sent by SMS to the buyer or to another person. There is no minimum basket value, the group said.
Shoprite said it was following its customers. It cited a survey that it did not name. The retailer said 95% of the people surveyed use airtime and data.
By Shoprite’s own figures, banking apps are the most popular channel for 61% of airtime and data purchases. Banks have made their apps the usual place to buy prepaid airtime.
Sixty60 made R25.5-billion in sales in the 2026 financial year from 997 stores. This figure comes from the group’s 2026 integrated report. It means Shoprite already has an app with many active users to sell to.
The app joins other ways Shoprite already sells these services. Customers can buy them at its tills and through its Money Market Account. Since August, they are also sold through card machines in spaza shops.
Selling airtime is not new for the retailer. It launched K’nect in 2021 as a mobile virtual network operator. This kind of operator sells mobile service using another company’s network.
At launch, K’nect ran on Cell C’s network. At the end of June, Shoprite had five K’nect stores.
The integrated report calls the group’s phone rental services an “ecosystem enabler”. It said these services support the use of digital banking. This year Shoprite added Pay It Off Phone Rental, a monthly plan to help customers get better smartphones. Staff also get cheaper data through K’nect.
The main product behind these services is the Money Market Account. The report says it has 4.3 million customers. Many of them did not have a bank account before or had limited access to banks.
The account works through the Shoprite app, USSD, WhatsApp and the web. People can put in or take out cash at any till using an eight-digit token. There are no monthly fees, and a cash withdrawal costs R5.
Shoprite says it will turn the account into a fuller bank account. It plans to add a debit card and wider payment options.
At Money Market counters in stores, customers pay bills, collect government grants and send money. They can also buy airtime, data and prepaid electricity there.
This business is growing. Commissions rose 9.6% to R1.4-billion in the 2026 financial year, according to the report. They came mostly from financial services, Money Market deals and prepaid services. This was the biggest single part of Shoprite’s other income.
On 14 August, Shoprite completed its purchase of 51% of R&A Cellular. The company’s card machines let spaza shops and informal traders sell airtime, data, electricity and other prepaid products. The machines also accept card payments.
The integrated report says the deal takes the group’s financial services into South Africa’s informal economy.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.