The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed deposit money banks (DMBs) to halt the deduction of charges for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) banking services directly from customers’ bank accounts.
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According to an email sent to customers by the United Bank for Africa (UBA) on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, USSD transaction charges will henceforth be deducted from users’ mobile airtime in line with the NCC’s End-User Billing (EUB) framework.
“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,” UBA stated. “Going forward, these charges will be deducted directly from your mobile airtime balance.”
Under the new billing model, users will be charged ₦6.98 per 120 seconds of USSD usage, billed by their respective mobile network operators. Each session will commence with a prompt seeking user consent, and airtime will only be deducted once the customer confirms and the bank is available to provide the service.
Customers who do not wish to continue under the new structure have the option to discontinue the use of USSD services and instead use alternative digital platforms, including mobile apps and internet banking.
This shift is seen as another step in resolving the long-standing dispute between mobile network operators (MNOs) and commercial banks over unpaid USSD service charges.
In December 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC mandated both parties to settle a lingering ₦250 billion USSD debt. The situation escalated when telcos threatened to suspend USSD services, prompting the NCC in January 2025 to threaten publication of debtor banks and enforce disconnection of USSD services to nine banks by January 27.
MTN Nigeria later confirmed it received ₦32 billion out of the ₦72 billion owed by banks as partial settlement.
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