NCC Orders Banks To Charge USSD Fees From Customers’ Airtime Accounts

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has ordered commercial banks to stop taking unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) banking charges directly from customers’ bank accounts.

According to NCC, these fees will now be deducted from users’ mobile airtime.

This new rule was shared in an email sent by United Bank for Africa (UBA) to its customers on Tuesday, stating that the change takes effect from June 3, 2025.

UBA wrote, “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.

“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 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.”

UBA also reminded customers that they can still use mobile apps or online banking for their transactions.

This move by the NCC appears to be part of efforts to settle ongoing disputes between mobile network operators and banks over unpaid USSD fees. The long-standing disagreement dates back years and involves a debt of over ₦250 billion.

KanyiDaily recalls that the Federal Government had ordered the NCC to work out modalities that will reduce costs of data for Nigerians who are constantly complaining about being highly charged by telecoms.