FROM Tuesday, June 3, 2025, banks and telecom companies will begin deducting USSD banking charges directly from customers’ airtime instead of their bank accounts.
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) announced this change in an e-mail message to customers, following a directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Key details:
Each USSD session will cost ₦6.98 per 120 seconds, charged by your mobile network.
You wil be asked to approve the charge before it’s deducted from your airtime.
If you prefer, you can use other banking channels like ATMs, mobile apps, or internet banking.
This change is part of a move to end the long-standing debt dispute between banks and telecoms over unpaid USSD fees.
As of late 2024, banks owed telecom companies ₦160 billion. For example, MTN was owed ₦42 billion by Nigerian banks. By shifting USSD fees to customers’ airtime, the telcos aim to recover these debts and avoid future issues.
The ICIR reports that a USSD – Unstructured Supplementary Service Data – is a service that allows users to communicate with a mobile network operator’s computer, in which the provider charges a fee for the transaction
The USSD is one of the tariffs the NCC recently hiked following mounted pressures from the telcos from ₦4 to ₦6.98
The banks and telcos had earlier revealed the plan to switch to end-user billing for USSD, where customers will be charged directly from their airtime balance anytime they use the USSD code for transactions.
The chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, had in April hinted at the plan to switch to end-user billing for USSD.
He had argued it was what the banks wanted as the goal would put a stop to the USSD crisis debts, which had hit N160 billion as of late 2024, from piling up.
In March, The ICIR reported that MTN Nigeria Communications Plc recorded N42 billion USSD indebtedness against Nigerian banks.
The total USSD service debts the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and NCC directed the banks to pay MTN an amount of N74 billion.
However, only a payment of N32 billion was made to MTN as of December 31, 2024, with the balance of N42 billion recognised as debt.