Abuja, Nigeria – The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to begin deducting charges for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) transactions directly from users’ mobile airtime balances. This marks a significant shift from the previous system where charges were typically deducted from bank accounts.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) informed its customers via email on Tuesday that the new directive takes effect from June 3, 2025. Under the “End-User Billing model,” each USSD session will incur a charge of ₦6.98 per 120 seconds, which will be billed by the customer’s mobile network operator. Users will receive a consent prompt at the start of each session before any airtime is deducted. Customers who do not wish to continue using USSD banking under this new model are advised they can discontinue the service.
The directive appears to be the latest move by the NCC to resolve a long-standing payment dispute over USSD services between Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and commercial banks.
The conflict has simmered for years, with telcos demanding payment for the infrastructure and services provided for bank transactions via USSD codes. In December 2024, Nigeria’s Central Bank (CBN) and the NCC had jointly directed MNOs and DMBs to resolve an accumulated USSD debt, reportedly amounting to ₦250 billion. Following threats by telecommunication companies to withdraw services over the unpaid dues, the NCC had, in January, threatened to suspend USSD services for non-compliant banks and publish a list of debtors. In one instance, MTN Nigeria reported receiving ₦32 billion out of an owed ₦72 billion from banks as partial payment for the USSD debt in February.
The new billing model aims to streamline payments and potentially alleviate the financial friction that has historically existed between the two industries over these popular banking services.
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