Business
NCC Issues New Directive To Banks On USSD Fees Payment
Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) have received a new directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to start deducting charges for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) transactions directly from users’ mobile airtime.
A release from the United Bank for Africa (UBA) to customers on Tuesday revealed that the charges will no longer be deducted from customers’ accounts, and that the directive takes effect from Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
“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.
“Going forward, these charges will be deducted directly from your mobile airtime balance in accordance with the NCC’s End-User Billing model. Under this new billing structure, each USSD session will attract a charge of N6.98 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 availability of the bank to fulfill this 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”, the statement explained.
UBA said customers can continue using other digital banking options and the internet banking platform for convenience.
The latest directive may be another move by the commission to address the historical USSD payment conflict between Mobile Network Operators and commercial banks.
In December 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the NCC directed mobile network operators and DMBs to resolve the long-standing N250bn USSD debt.
Following threats by telcoms to withdraw services over the debt accumulated by banks, the NCC, in January, threatened to suspend the USSD service and publish a list of banks still owing telcos.
On January 15, the regulator directed telcoms to disconnect the USSD codes assigned to nine banks by January 27 due to unpaid debts. In February , MTN Nigeria said it received N32bn, out of N72bn, from banks as part of payment for the USSD debt.
The telcoms had repeatedly raised concerns about the USSD debt, a development various parties in the sector had made concerted efforts to tackle.