FG Directs Banks To Stop Deducting USSD Transaction Fees From Users’ Accounts

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed commercial banks to deduct charges for unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) transactions directly from users’ mobile airtime, and not from their accounts.

This directive was made known via an email sent to the United Bank for Africa (UBA) customers on Tuesday.

The bank, which said charges will no longer be deducted from customers’ accounts, added that the directive will take effect from Tuesday, June 3.

The statement reads, “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 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 said customers can continue using other digital banking options and internet banking platform for convenience.