The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has mandated deposit money banks (DMBs) to stop deducting charges for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) transactions directly from customers’ bank accounts.
According to a customer email from United Bank for Africa (UBA) on Tuesday, the new directive, effective June 3, 2025, requires that USSD service charges be deducted from users’ mobile airtime balances instead.
“In line with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), please be informed that effective June 3, 2025, charges for USSD banking services will no longer be deducted from your bank account,” the statement reads.
“Going forward, these charges will be deducted directly from your mobile airtime balance in accordance with the NCC’s End-User Billing (EUB) model.
“Under this new billing structure, each USSD session will attract a charge of ₦6.98 per 120 seconds, which will be billed by your mobile network operator.
“You will receive a consent prompt at the start of each session, and airtime will only be deducted upon your confirmation and the bank’s availability to fulfill the service.
“If you do not wish to continue using USSD banking under this new model, you may choose to discontinue use of the USSD channel.”
UBA also encouraged customers to explore alternative digital and internet banking platforms for convenience and flexibility.
This policy shift is widely viewed as another attempt by the NCC to resolve the long-standing dispute over USSD service payments between mobile network operators (MNOs) and commercial banks.
In December 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC directed MNOs and DMBs to settle the N250 billion USSD debt, which had sparked a rift between telcos and banks. In January 2025, the NCC threatened to suspend USSD services and publicly name banks with outstanding payments. By February 28, MTN Nigeria confirmed it had received ₦32 billion out of its ₦72 billion USSD receivables from banks.