Things To Consider Before Making Online Payments with Mobile Money

For Ghanaians
By Godwin Gabla

Chances are that you’ve ever made a purchase online and paid with Mobile Money here in Ghana.

Also, chances are that you’ve heard of people being scammed through such online Mobile Money payments.

So the big question is; how do you know if it’s okay to pay a seller online or not?

For most of us, we are just fortunate to have completed a number of Mobile Money transactions online without being defrauded.

But how fortunate can you be? And how long will you continue to be fortunate?

In this article, we give you a list of things to look out for before deciding to pay for a product or service online, using Mobile Money.

Blog Outline

Things To Consider When Paying With Mobile Money Online

There are a few things you ought to consider before paying for anything online, using Mobile Money so that you don’t end up getting scammed by anyone.

Some of them are listed below.

Check For Alternative Payment Terms

If you’re going to pay someone you don’t know through an electronic payment system for a product, then you should do your checks well.

Be sure to confirm from the person if there are other payment terms aside from you paying before they deliver to you.

Ask if there’s payment on delivery options available or if they can meet you up somewhere in an open space so you pay and take the item.

If they insist that their only payment option is Payment before Delivery, then you should think through and decide if you want to go for that.

The Seller’s Reputation

Buying online is not completely a bad idea. In fact, it’s a cool idea since it saves you time and the risks associated with travelling to buy an item somewhere.

But, before you proceed to make payment for an online product, using mobile money, you should consider the reputation of the seller.

You obviously don’t want to pay money to someone without knowing how reputable they are.

For starters, it’s best to buy from sites and sellers who are quite popular and have good customer relation. In fact, it’s advisable to buy from people or sellers whom your friends or relatives have transacted business with in the past.

If for any reason the person is new and hasn’t done any business with anyone you know, check their profile very well, visit their social media handles and confirm how authentic they are.

Reviews are not always accurate

This one is a pro tip for any online purchase. Reviews are usually not what they seem to be.

Those sweet words put together on products and service pages? Well, they are mostly fake.

People send their links to their friends and accomplices to comment such nice words on their products and services.

So, if you’re going to depend entirely on those reviews to make such payments, then you’re walking wholeheartedly into a death trap and it’ll swallow you nicely!

After checking the reviews, check the spellings, grammatical constructions and other details before giving it a go.

Buy only with as much money as you can afford to lose

Nobody has ever promised that you can buy online without the risk of losing your money.

In fact, the risk is always 50% when you’re buying online. Especially if you’d have to pay before delivery is done.

So, to stomach the risk and be ready for anything that might happen, it’s perfect to only pay as much money as you can afford to lose.

This is not to say you won’t feel hurt, anyway.

But, if you lose GHS 100 to a scammer, the pain is easier than losing GHS 1,000.

So, check through your budget and consider the amount of money you can stake a bet with.

Then spend that same amount anytime you want to buy something online using mobile money.

Never exceed this limit!

Conclusion

Business and the Internet are almost inseparable in today’s world. In fact, it’s impossible to separate these two words.

So, most people now tend to buy online even here in Ghana. Buying online comes with its own hurdles – especially in terms of security.

In this article, we spoke about some things to consider when making mobile money payment for items purchased online.

We hope you loved the content of this article and that it was helpful to you.

Kindly share the article with your friends and relatives.

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Godwin Gabla

Godwin Gabla is an internet addict who has found a passion for writing and marketing. A blend of which produced the profession he so much enjoys - Blogging. He blogs mostly in the fields of entertainment, lifestyle, technology and marketing. He's a seasoned digital content marketer and copywriter with over 7 years of proven experience. Pets? He doesn’t do much of that but dogs seem nice.

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