WalletCalc is an independent fee calculator for mobile money services across Africa, Southeast Asia, and beyond. We exist to make mobile money fees transparent, comparable, and actionable for the millions of people who depend on these services every day.
Mobile money is a financial revolution. In Kenya, more than 90 percent of adults use M-Pesa. In Nigeria, OPay and PalmPay handle billions in monthly transaction volume. In the Philippines, GCash has more active users than most major banks. Across these markets, mobile money has unlocked financial access for hundreds of millions of people who were previously excluded from the formal banking system.
But mobile money fees remain confusing. Fee schedules are buried in long documents. Brackets shift in ways that are easy to miss. Cross-network transfers cost differently than same-network transfers. Cross-border features can charge 5-10% in fees that international remittance services would handle for 1-2%. Most users only learn the cost after the deduction has already happened.
We started WalletCalc after watching family members across multiple countries lose meaningful amounts to fee structures they didn't understand. Our goal is simple: tell people the exact fee before they tap send, and give them better alternatives when their default option isn't the cheapest.
WalletCalc uses published fee schedules from each provider as the primary source. We supplement this with regular sampling: we run real transactions periodically to verify that published rates match what users actually pay. When we find discrepancies, we update the calculator and contact the provider for clarification.
Our fee data covers the following services:
We update fee schedules whenever providers announce changes, typically within seven days of an official announcement. Major rate changes happen one to three times per year on most services. We also monitor government policy changes (such as Ghana's e-levy or Uganda's mobile money tax) that affect end-user costs.
WalletCalc receives no payment from any mobile money provider. We are not affiliated with Safaricom, OPay, PalmPay, GCash, Maya, MTN, Airtel, or any other provider listed in the calculator. The fee data we display is taken from public sources and verified through sampling.
We monetize through two channels:
WalletCalc is built and maintained by an independent team based in Botswana with backgrounds in fintech, software engineering, and consumer financial advocacy. We have firsthand experience using mobile money services across multiple African and Asian markets, both as senders and receivers, and have lived through the frustration of unexpected fees that drove this project.
We are a small team — currently just two people working part-time on this project alongside other commitments. As traffic grows, we hope to expand and add coverage for more countries and more services.
Our 2026 roadmap includes:
If you've spotted an outdated rate, want to report a discrepancy between what WalletCalc shows and what you were actually charged, or have suggestions for new features and countries to cover, we want to hear from you. Visit our contact page to get in touch.
Reader feedback drives most of our improvements. If you've found WalletCalc useful, sharing it with others who send mobile money is the best way to support the project.