Mukuru competitors: a Mukuru alternative for stablecoins
Unigox is one of the Mukuru competitors for keeping savings in USDT or USDC, bought and sold through your bank account. To send money home, or save in cash at a till and cash out by Wicode, stay with Mukuru.
When to stay with Mukuru
You send money home to family
Mukuru sends from South Africa to bank accounts, mobile wallets and cash collection points across Africa, Europe and Asia, and can have the cash delivered to the recipient in Zimbabwe. On Unigox, a relative abroad would need a verified account of their own, and could sell the USDT you send them only if their currency is live on Unigox.
You pay in and take out cash
Save in Dollars runs on cash: rand goes in at the till of Pick n Pay, Shoprite, SPAR and other shops, and comes out as a Wicode voucher at Shoprite, Checkers, uSave or Pick n Pay. A rand trade on Unigox is paid between bank accounts.
Mukuru's USDC wallet and Unigox for rand savings
| Topic | Mukuru | Unigox |
|---|---|---|
| Stablecoin on offer | USDC only, against rand only, in a VALR wallet you run from Mukuru's WhatsApp chat. | USDT and USDC, each bought and sold with rand or another local currency on Unigox. |
| Who can use it | Verified Mukuru Core or Max customers in South Africa, on WhatsApp. A customer below Core upgrades first, which can mean more documents. | A customer who has passed identity verification, which comes before the first trade at any amount. |
| Putting rand in | Cash only, paid at a shop till against a WhatsApp reference: R50 to R20,000 a deposit, but at most R5,000 at Shoprite or SPAR and R10,000 at Pick n Pay, with a tiered deposit fee. | From your bank account to whoever sells you the stablecoin, as part of the trade. |
| Buy and sell fee | 1.2% on each buy and each sell of USDC. No sign-up or monthly fee. | No separate fee line: it sits inside the rate shown for your amount. |
| Getting rand out | A Wicode cash voucher at Shoprite, Checkers, uSave or Pick n Pay, up to R3,000 each, with a tiered fee. Not to a bank account or a Mukuru Card. | Paid into your bank account by the P2P merchant or payment business that buys your stablecoin. |
| Moving the coins | Not possible: the wallet allows deposits, trades and withdrawals only, with no transfer to another person or to a VALR account. | USDT can go to an outside wallet before or after a trade. |
| Regulation | Mukuru Africa is an Authorised Dealer in Foreign Exchange with Limited Authority, with permission from the South African Reserve Bank for remittances. The USDC wallet is run by VALR (Pty) Ltd, FSP 53308, overseen by the FSCA. | Unigox works through two companies: UNIGOX NETWORK CORP. in Canada handles the local-money side and is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business and with the Bank of Canada as a payment service provider; UNIGOX NETWORK CORP. in Panama handles the crypto side, including wallets and escrow. |
UnigoxSwitch from Mukuru in three steps
Open and verify an account
Sign up on Unigox and complete the identity check, which comes before a first trade of any size.
Buy USDT or USDC with rand
Enter the rand amount and accept the rate, fee included. Pay from your bank account to the payment business or P2P merchant filling the trade.
Hold, send on or sell back
Keep the stablecoin in your Unigox Wallet, or send USDT to another wallet. When you need rand, sell it and the buyer pays your bank account.
Questions about Mukuru alternatives
Who are Mukuru's competitors for stablecoin savings?
For a balance held in a stablecoin, Unigox is one: you buy USDT or USDC with rand from your bank account and sell it back for rand paid into that account. For sending money home, Mukuru competes with transfer apps such as Mama Money.
Read the Mama Money comparisonWhat fees does Mukuru charge on its USDC wallet?
Save in Dollars has no sign-up or monthly fee. Each buy or sell of USDC costs 1.2%, and the cash deposit and the Wicode withdrawal each carry a tiered fee. On Unigox the fee is inside the rate shown for your amount.
Can I move my USDC from Mukuru to Unigox?
Not directly. Mukuru's USDC wallet sends coins nowhere, not even to VALR's own app. You sell the USDC for rand in the Save in Dollars menu, take the rand out as cash with Wicode vouchers of up to R3,000 each, pay that cash into your bank account, and buy again on Unigox from that account.
Can Unigox send money home the way Mukuru does?
Not as a transfer. Mukuru pays a recipient you add by name and phone number, in cash if they want it. On Unigox, a relative abroad opens their own account, passes the identity check and sells the USDT you send them, if their currency is live on Unigox.
Check a rand rate for your amount
Take a Save in Dollars quote with its 1.2% buy fee and its tiered cash deposit fee, and hold it against the Unigox rate for your amount, which already includes the Unigox fee.
Mukuru and other names and logos are trademarks of their respective owners. Unigox is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by them. Information about other companies comes from public sources, mainly the companies' own websites, and each company can change its products and fees at any time.