MTN’s Gift Data service allows you to transfer data from your active data balance to your friends, buy data for friends, and request data from your friends. In essence, you can use the service to send and buy data bundles for your other smart phones, modems and tablets.

All customers on the MTN network can access the Data Gifting service

How to Gift MTN Data

You can access the service by dialing *131*7# on your phone, visiting myMTN App, sending SMS keyword, or dialing direct shortcodes for the respective options:

Transfer Data: You can now transfer from your existing  Data Balance with your friends and family: Simply dial *131*Phone number* Data amount# or, text Transfer<space>Phone number<space>Data amount and to 131

Buy Data for a Friend: You can buy a specific bundle for that special friend and you will be charged from your airtime. Simply dial *131*Bundle Activation Code*Beneficiary’s Phone number#

Request Data from a Friend: Don’t get stranded or go without Data on your phone, you can now request for data from that Special friend. Simply dial *131*7*3#

View Pending Request: To check all your existing requests. Simply dial *131*7*4#

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I require a PIN to use the MTN’s Gift Data service?

No. You only need to enter your beneficiary’s phone number and choose a data plan to use the service.

What amount of data can I transfer at a time?

The amount of data you can transfer at a time are 10MB, 50MB, and 100MB. However, you must ensure you have at least 50MB in your data balance after every transfer for your transfer to be successful.

How many times can I transfer data in a day?

The maximum number of times you can transfer is twice daily. However, the cumulative amount you can transfer at a given time and in a day is 100MB.

How many times can I buy data for my loved ones?

You can buy any data plan multiple times for your beneficiary as long as you have sufficient credit in your line.

How many times can I send a request for data?

You will be able to send a request for data at most 5 times a day, but you shall be able to receive data request multiple times.

Will I be able to receive request for data if I am having active DND service?

You will not receive data request if you have Full DND active on your line?

What are the types of bundle I can gift a friend?

You can only buy and transfer data from your daily, weekly, and monthly bundle plans, but, you shall not be able to gift from an XtraValue bundle.

How long can I have a pending data request?

A request will be active for 48 hours on your view pending request menu and you will be able to see only the 10 most recent ones if you have multiples.

I just purchased a monthly bundle, but I am still having unused data in my daily and weekly bundle balance that will soon expire. Can I transfer the daily and weekly bundles to my friend?

No. You will only be able to transfer from the bundle with the latest validity at any given time and the expiry date will be the same on the beneficiary’s line.

I am having 5MB, 25MB, and 40MB remaining in my daily, weekly, and monthly balance respectively. Will I be able to transfer from my combined data balance to a friend?

No, you will not be able to combine your total balance for any transfer. You will only be able to transfer from the data plan that has sufficient balance.

Can data be transferred to me if I am still having sufficient data in my line?

Yes, but the data you received will deplete first before your active data bundle.

If I have multiple data bundles active and received a data gift, which bundle will deplete first?

If someone buys data for you with the multiple data bundles active on your line, the data bundle with the least validity will be used first. Example: If you have an active 30-day bundle plan and received a gift of 1-day plan, the 1-day plan will be used first before the 30-day plan. 

Can I enjoy bonus offers on the data bundle I am gifted?

You will only be able to enjoy bonus on the bundle that is bought for you if you are eligible for the offers, but you will NOT be able to enjoy bonus on data that is transferred to you.

Will I be charged an additional cost for using the MTN’s Gift Data service?

No! You will only be charged the price of the data plan if you are buying for a friend.

Will my gifted data auto renew on the day of expiry?

You will only be able to auto-renew the bundle that was bought for you by sending the opt-in keyword to 131, but the bundle that was transferred to you will not auto-renew and will be valid till the expiry date.

Will I be able to rollover my unused gifted data bundle?

You will be able to roll over any unused main data bundle that is bought for you as long as you buy or receive another bundle before the current bundle expires or within the allowed grace period after the bundle expires. BUT you will NOT be able rollover any unused data bonus and data that is transferred to you.

Will I be able to set MTN’s Gift Data service to automatically gift beneficiaries data bundles?

No, you can only gift your loved ones data bundle by accessing the service yourself.

How do I check the balance of my gifted bundle?


You will be able to check your data bundle balance  via the following channels:

SMS: Texting 2 to 131

USSD: dialing *131*4#

myMTN App