The Nigerian Communications Commission has directed Deposit Money Banks to start deducting charges for unstructured supplementary service data transactions directly from users’ mobile airtime.
According to an email from the United Bank for Africa to customers on Tuesday, the charges will no longer be deducted from customers’ accounts. UBA said the directive takes effect from Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
The statement read, “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 fulfil 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.”