How to Send Bulk SMS in Uganda Using Mobile Money (No Credit Card)

Most Ugandan teams that need bulk SMS — the school bursar, the SACCO loan officer, the parish secretary, the NGO field manager — don't have a corporate credit card. They have MTN MoMo or Airtel Money, and that's what they use for everything else.

Wesendall is built around that reality. Here's the end-to-end walkthrough.

What you need

• A Ugandan phone number registered for MTN Mobile Money or Airtel Money
• A list of recipient phone numbers (paste, CSV upload, or Google Contacts sync)
• About five minutes

That's it. No credit card. No bank visit. No SWIFT. No forex conversion.

Step 1 — Create a free Wesendall account

Head to wesendall.com/register and create an account. Use any email and your Ugandan phone number. We'll send you a verification code via SMS — enter it to activate the account.

Step 2 — Top up your wallet with MoMo

1. From the dashboard, click Account balance in the sidebar.
2. Click Deposit money.
3. Enter your MTN MoMo or Airtel Money phone number and the UGX amount you want to top up. Minimum is UGX 500; no maximum (subject to your network's daily transaction limits).
4. Approve the prompt that arrives on your phone with your Mobile Money PIN.
5. The wallet credits within seconds.

The MTN/Airtel collection fee is added to the amount you authorize on your phone — exactly the same way it works for any MoMo Pay merchant. Wesendall credits the full amount you confirmed.

Step 3 — Upload your contact list

From the sidebar, click Contacts & Groups, then choose one of:

• New group → manually create an empty group and add contacts one by one
• Import CSV → upload an Excel file with a Phone column (any format)
• Paste list → drop a list of phone numbers into a textarea
• Sync from Google → if you keep your contact list in Google Contacts

Wesendall normalizes phone formats automatically (+256, 256, and 07XX all become the canonical 256XXXXXXXXX), and removes duplicates on import.

Step 4 — Compose and send

1. From the sidebar, click Send SMS.
2. Pick the message type — Single, Multiple (paste recipients), or Group (pick a saved group).
3. Type your message. The counter shows character count and SMS units. One SMS is 160 characters; longer messages split into multiple units and are billed per unit at UGX 35 each.
4. Click Send.

That's it. You'll see per-recipient delivery status as the messages land. Failed sends (invalid numbers, network errors) are refunded to your wallet automatically — you only pay for messages that reached the recipient.

Step 5 — Watch the activity log

The Activity page in the sidebar shows every send, top-up, and login in one timeline, grouped by day. Use it for compliance, audit and finance reporting.

How is this different from other providers?

Most Ugandan SMS providers technically accept Mobile Money — but they treat it as a side option, with a manual flow that takes 24 hours or a clunky payment gateway redirect.

Wesendall treats MoMo as the primary payment rail:

• Direct collection — no third-party gateway, no redirect dance.
• Instant wallet credit — funds land in seconds.
• API endpoint — your backend can trigger top-ups programmatically. Useful for auto-recharge at low balances.
• No card surcharge — the only fee is MTN/Airtel's standard collection fee.

Frequently asked

What's the minimum top-up? UGX 500.

What's the maximum? Whatever your daily MTN MoMo or Airtel Money limit is. Typical agents go up to UGX 5,000,000/day.

Can I top up from someone else's MoMo line? Yes — any registered Ugandan MoMo line can fund your Wesendall wallet. The receipt is logged in the activity feed for audit.

What if the prompt doesn't arrive? Wait 60 seconds. If still nothing, dial *165# (MTN) or *185# (Airtel) to check pending transactions. Wesendall doesn't deduct anything until you authorize on your phone.

Are refunds also paid in MoMo? Refunds on failed SMS sends flow back into your Wesendall wallet (not your phone). Use them for the next batch.

Start sending today

Create your free account and top up with MoMo in 30 seconds.

For the full breakdown of Ugandan SMS pricing, see our 2026 pricing guide.