Top-Up Guides by Country and Region
Prepaid rules change at every border. These guides cover registration, balance caps and value limits, so your recharge lands the very first time.
A top-up that works perfectly in one country can be refused in the next. The rules are local, and they are set by regulators and carriers.
These guides collect the rules that actually affect a recharge.
Registration rules
Many countries require a prepaid SIM to be registered to a named person. An unregistered line may reject credit from abroad.
Only the person holding the SIM can fix this. It usually takes one visit to an operator shop.
Balance caps
Some regulators cap how much credit a prepaid line may hold at once. Send more than the cap and the operator refuses the whole amount.
Splitting the top-up into two smaller sends usually solves it.
Which values an operator sells
Carriers publish a list of values they accept. That list changes. A figure that worked last year may no longer exist.
We only show live values, so this is rarely a problem here. It is a common one elsewhere.
Number formats and prefixes
The single most common failure is a wrong prefix. Local dialling habits drop digits that an international format needs.
Ask for the number in full international format. Then check it once before you pay.
Data rules for travellers
Buying local prepaid data as a visitor has its own rules. Some countries need a passport at the point of sale.
Our travel data explainers go through those.
Finding your destination
Start on the country coverage page. It lists the markets we serve and the carriers inside them.