The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a directive requiring Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to begin deducting charges for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) transactions directly from customers’ mobile airtime balances instead of their bank accounts. This new policy took effect on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
In an official communication sent to its customers on the same day, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) informed users that USSD banking fees would no longer be debited from their bank accounts. The bank explained, “In line with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission, please be informed that effective June 3, 2025, charges for USSD banking services will no longer be deducted from your bank account.”
Under the NCC’s End-User Billing model, each USSD session will now attract a fee of ₦6.98 per 120 seconds, which will be billed by the customer’s mobile network operator. Customers will receive a consent prompt at the start of each session, and airtime will only be deducted upon their confirmation and the bank’s availability to provide the service.
UBA also advised customers that if they do not wish to continue using USSD banking under this new billing structure, they may opt to discontinue the use of the USSD channel and instead utilize other digital banking platforms such as internet banking for convenience.
This directive appears to be part of ongoing efforts by the NCC to resolve the longstanding USSD payment dispute between mobile network operators and commercial banks. In December 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC jointly urged telcos and banks to settle the accumulated USSD debt, which had reached N250 billion.
The dispute escalated earlier this year when mobile network operators threatened to withdraw USSD services due to unpaid fees. In response, the NCC warned of suspending USSD services and published a list of banks with outstanding debts. On January 15, 2025, the regulator ordered the disconnection of USSD codes assigned to nine banks by January 27 over unpaid debts.
By late February, MTN Nigeria announced it had received N32 billion out of the N72 billion owed by banks as partial payment of the USSD debt. The NCC’s new directive to charge USSD fees directly from airtime is expected to streamline payment processes and reduce future disputes between banks and telcos.
