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After being here a year, things become a lot easier (trust me), but I remember how difficult it was to figure out how to do so many simple things when I first got here. One of those things was adding credit to my pre-paid Movistar phone. (As a foreigner, you cannot get a cell phone plan here, so you must use the “pre-pago” service.) A big problem, of course, was my lack of being able to speak or understand Spanish. So, hopefully this English guide to adding credit to your Movistar phone will help some of you out.
Let me start by saying, the easiest way for me personally to add credit has just been to charge it to my US credit card. I know that it is possible to buy Movistar credits at the kioscos and charge it that way, but I like the convenience of being able to do it from wherever I am. Hopefully we can get some people to comment on what works for them or how they do it with other mobile services.
Ok, so on to Movistar. Here’s the steps:
- Dial *444 from your mobile phone. You will hear an automated voice announcing some promotions and then asking for input.
- Press 2 to begin the recharge process. (Press 1 to hear your current available credit.)
- Press 2 to charge to a credit card. (Press 1 to charge to a Movistar card.)
- Wait a second for it to connect and you’ll the be prompted to enter your credit card number followed by the # sign. Do that.
- They repeat the credit card number back to you. Press 1 if correct, 2 if incorrect.
- You’re next asked for the security code (4 digit for American Express, 3 digit for Visa/MasterCard) followed by the # sign. Enter that.
- They repeat the security code back to you. Press 1 if correct, 2 if incorrect.
- You’re then prompted to enter the 2-digit month and the 2-digit year for the credit card expiration. (No # sign at the end this time.) Enter it.
- They repeat the expiration date back to you. Press 1 if correct, 2 if incorrect.
- You are now prompted to choose what you want to charge. Press 2 to specify an amount to charge your credit card.
- Enter the amount to charge to your account followed by the number sign.
- They now repeat the amount, the credit card and expiration date information back to you.Press 1 if correct, 2 if incorrect.
- Wait a few seconds. They will confirm the charge and disconnect the call. You should get a text message stating your new balance. Please note that this new balance may not include any double-credit promotions. You may get that as an additional text.
- That’s it! You did it.
Another thing to realize is that Movistar will send a number of promotions throughout the week to your mobile phone. This is usually the best time to recharge, as they often give double credit when you recharge and occasionally triple credit. After you recharge, they will send a number of texts with additional promotions too, such as free SMS for a day, free calling to another Movistar number for 7 days, etc.
So, anyone else have any tips or instructions for other carriers?
UPDATE: I’ve added a new post about how to save money using Movistar pre-pago. You may find that useful as well.
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9 responses so far ↓
1 Stefan // Dec 9, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Been doing this for years, but with my new phone a Nokia that has a QWERTY keyboard, I can't type the credit card number fast enough and the operation times out. I imagine it's the same with Blackberry owners and similar. So I now Buy the cards again and SMS the number to Movistar. I buy less airtime as a result, so Movistar should fix this.
Also, got a call today from Movistar offering a 29 peso monthly plan; said DNI not needed. A CUIL is, but my CUIT may do the job. Haven't looked into yet, though.
2 mninba // Mar 13, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Amazing! I get so annoyed to go to the kiosk to get credit. Thanks for the info!
3 Bill // May 5, 2010 at 10:21 am
Thanks for the help. My wife is Argentins so hopefully she could help me in a pinch. I do have a question. I know the pre-paid cards are used for phone calls and text messages but can you access the internet with your interent enabled phone on a pre-paid basis? I have heard about movistar having some like that. You have to text something to movistar to turn it on and they charge for a 2 day or 1gb basis? Thanks.
4 DaVe // May 8, 2010 at 11:44 am
I've heard that you need to text "1" to 226.
This will charge you $10 pesos for 1 GB to use in 24 hours. However, for my iPhone, they seem to just charge me all the time! i have to have 3G and EDGE turned off if I do not want to get charged. It eats into my credit really quickly.
5 Saving Money With Movistar Prepago | Discover Buenos Aires // Jun 9, 2010 at 10:49 am
[...] had previously posted instructions about how to add credit to your Movistar pre-paid mobile phone via credit card, but I thought now would be a good time to talk about how to save some money on [...]
6 curt // Jul 25, 2010 at 11:14 pm
movistar has a 9 pesos for 1GB for 2 days plan for EDGE data. text Datos to 2345 for the package.
also you can recharge your minutes/balance with your ARG bank account. Either at the ATM or online. I use my HSBC ARG account to recharge my balance without even being in Argentina! As you know, if you don't use Movistar for 30 days, the balance expires….so whenever i am out of country for a while, i need to recharge before my flight arrives in EZE.
7 DaVe // Jul 26, 2010 at 12:16 am
Curt,
Yeah, the data plan is great. I covered that in a new blog post about ways to save money with pre-pago – http://www.discoverbuenosaires.com/movistar-pre-p...
Thanks for the tips on using HSBC too.
8 Kyle // Jul 31, 2010 at 2:26 pm
This seems great and I went through all the steps only to hear the Movistar voice tell me that my credit card is not authorized for this type of transaction… How do I go about getting my credit card to do this? Any one know?
9 DaVe // Aug 3, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Hmmm, it has always worked with my American Express card. Maybe try calling your credit card company and see if they are blocking it?
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