Using Garewa on your phone
The app and the website are the same account and the same wallet. Anything you do in one shows up in the other. This guide is about finding your way around the app specifically.
Installing and signing in
Sign in with your phone number or your email address, plus your password. If you registered on the website, the same details work here; there is no separate app account.
Where everything is
| Tab | What is there |
|---|---|
| Home | Your balance, quick actions for each service, and your recent purchases. |
| History | Every transaction, with its status and a receipt you can open. |
| Referral | Your code, who has joined with it, and what you have earned. |
| Support | Tickets, contact channels, your account details, and Security settings. |
Home
Your balance is at the top, with Add money next to it. Below that are the services, and under those your recent purchases. Tapping any of them opens the receipt.
Data and airtime
We guess it from the number, but always check. Numbers get ported between networks and the guess can be wrong.
Or pick a saved beneficiary. You can save a number as you buy.
The price shown is the price you pay.
Or your fingerprint, if you have turned that on.
Electricity, TV and internet
For electricity, pick your disco and whether the meter is prepaid or postpaid, then enter the meter number. The app looks it up and shows the registered name before you pay. Check that name. It is the only confirmation you have that you are paying the right meter.
For cable and internet, pick the provider, enter the smartcard or account number, and choose the package. The same name check applies.
Prepaid electricity returns a token on the receipt. It is saved in your history, so you do not have to write it down.
Exam pins
WAEC, NECO and JAMB pins arrive on the receipt after purchase, and stay in your history. If you buy more than one, every pin is listed there.
Receipts and history
Every purchase has a reference. Quote it when you contact support and there is nothing to explain: it identifies the transaction exactly. Receipts can be shared from the receipt screen.
Security settings
Support tab, then Security settings.
| What | What it needs |
|---|---|
| Change password | Your current password. Signs out every other device. |
| Change PIN | Your current PIN, or your password plus a texted code if you have forgotten it. |
| Change phone number | Your password, plus a code to your current number and one to the new number. |
| Change email | Your password, plus a code texted to your phone. |
| Sign out everywhere | Nothing. Ends every session including this one. |
Fingerprint and Face ID
You can turn on biometric unlock once you have set a PIN. It replaces typing the PIN on purchases, on that device only. It does not replace the PIN itself: the PIN still exists and is still what you use anywhere else.
Alerts
We text you when something significant happens: a PIN change, a password change, a number change, or a request to move your account. If you have a confirmed email, those go there too.
If one of these arrives and it was not you, call support immediately. That message is the earliest warning you will get.
The app cannot reach Garewa
If a screen says it could not reach us, or that we did not answer in time, the app could not get a message out to our servers at all. That is almost always the phone's connection rather than your account, and nothing has been charged: a purchase that never left your phone was never made.
A Test this connection link appears under the message. Tap it. It checks four things in order and tells you in one line which one is at fault.
| What it says | What it means |
|---|---|
| No working internet | The phone is not online, whatever the signal bars show. Switch between wifi and mobile data and try again. |
| Part of the internet is blocked | Some wifi networks, especially in offices, hotels and schools, allow only part of the internet through. Switch to mobile data. |
| Garewa cannot be reached from this network | Your connection is fine and ours is refusing it. That is ours to fix. Tap Copy details and send it to us. |
| Garewa has a problem at our end | Our service is down. We already know. Try again shortly. |
| Everything is reachable | Whatever it was has passed. Try signing in again. |
Copy details puts the full result on your clipboard, including which version of the app you are running. Paste it to us on WhatsApp. It saves us asking you a dozen questions, and it is the difference between us guessing and us knowing.
The test only ever reports whether our servers can be reached. It does not read anything on your phone and it does not need you to be signed in, which is the point: it is there for exactly the moment when you cannot get in.
A purchase is stuck
Leave it. Pending purchases are re-checked automatically, and if delivery is not confirmed inside the reversal window your wallet is credited back without you asking. The window is shown in the app.
If the money has not come back after the window has passed, open a ticket from Support and quote the reference.
Locked out
| What happened | What to do |
|---|---|
| PIN locked | Wait for the lock to clear, or reset the PIN from Security with your password and a texted code. |
| Sign-in locked | Too many wrong passwords. Wait, or use Forgot password. If it was not you trying, reset the password. |
| Forgotten password | Forgot your password? on the sign-in screen. Code by text, or by email if you confirmed one. |
| Lost the SIM | Reset by email if you confirmed one. If not, contact support: they must verify you, and a second staff member must approve. |
| Spending paused | Normal for a few hours after a password reset. Your balance is safe. If you did not reset it, call support. |