Trovo

Most Nigerians still buy data and pay bills through a patchwork of websites, USSD, and agent shops, and they overpay. Trovo had to be the cheaper, faster path: MTN, Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile data and airtime, DSTV / GOtv / Startimes, electricity tokens, and exam pins, from one wallet.

A lot of that audience never opens a browser. The product also had to work where they already are (WhatsApp and Telegram) with the same prices, wallet, and receipts as the website.

The web app is the full surface: a marketing site that sells cheapest-route VTU, then a dashboard for wallet, airtime, data, electricity, cable, exam pins, betting, recharge cards, referrals, schedules, and receipts. Next.js and TypeScript on the front; Laravel behind it. The wallet funds by dedicated bank transfer or card via Monnify, and a live price table plus smart routing keep the catalog cheaper than the usual VTU sites.

The bots are not a FAQ layer. WhatsApp (Trovo Assistant on 09124904305) and Telegram share the same purchase pipeline as the site: pick a network or bill, confirm, debit the wallet, deliver, send a receipt. The chat greets the same account as the dashboard, so the two products stay one wallet.

A naira can only move once. Wallet credits from bank transfers, VTU debit, provider routing, and auto-refund on failed delivery all have to agree, including when two people buy at once, or when one fulfilment route is down and another is cheaper.

Chat is a worse checkout than a website: session state, button lists, and a short menu instead of a form. The bot had to feel short; the dashboard had to stay detailed. Same wallet, two very different products.

Live at trovo.ng and in daily use. Customers buy from the site, the WhatsApp bot, or @TrovoNGBot on Telegram, with the same wallet and catalog behind all three.