Offline Data: get data back with one call, even with ₦0 airtime

The problem it solves

Data runs out at the worst moment: the bank app will not open because there is no data, you cannot reach a vending site because there is no data, and the phone has ₦0 airtime so the network's own menu will not sell you a bundle either. The only thing a phone with no data and no airtime can still do is place a call. Offline Data turns that one call into a data purchase.

Because the money comes from your Nata wallet, which you funded earlier by bank transfer, the phone needs neither airtime nor internet. The plan is bought and delivered the way any Nata data purchase is: within seconds of the call being detected.

How it works, step by step

• You register a phone number under Offline Data and attach a data plan to it. Nata stores the number, its network and the plan price.
• When that number calls 07070470627, the call is reported to Nata, which looks the number up.
• If the number is saved and has not been topped up today, Nata buys the attached plan from your wallet without asking for a PIN (the registered number is the authorisation) and delivers it.
• If the wallet does not hold enough for the plan, nothing is bought and you get an email with the number, network and plan price so you can fund the wallet and call again.
• If the saved plan has been withdrawn by the network, Nata removes the entry and emails you to set it up again with a current plan.

Not a loan: Offline Data versus "borrow data"

Searches for borrow data MTN or how to get data without airtime usually lead to the networks' airtime and data loans. Those are credit: the network advances a small bundle, adds a service charge, and recovers the whole amount from your next recharge, often leaving you with less than you topped up. Offline Data is not credit. You are buying a normal plan at the normal Nata price from money that is already yours. There is no interest, no service charge and no deduction later.

It is also not limited to tiny emergency bundles. Whatever plan you attach is what gets delivered, whether that is 500MB to get through the day or a monthly plan.

Who it is for

• Anyone on a prepaid line who has been caught with no data and no airtime at the same time.
• Parents who want a child's phone to get data without sending money or sharing a PIN. Save the child's number as your second line; they call, you pay.
• People supporting a relative who finds apps hard. Calling a saved number is the whole process.

Limits and safety

Each saved number gets one top-up a day, so a pocket dial or a repeated call cannot drain the wallet. You can save up to 2 numbers per account, and you can remove or change a number and its plan at any time in the app. Only numbers you saved are ever topped up: a stranger calling 07070470627 gets nothing.

What it costs

The plan price, nothing more. The same prices apply as on our data plan pages: 1GB from ₦357 at the time of writing, with every MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9mobile plan listed. It is a feature you will not find in bank apps or USSD menus, and it costs nothing extra to switch on.