The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a directive mandating Deposit Money Banks to begin deducting charges for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) transactions directly from users’ mobile airtime.
In a message circulated by one commercial bank to its customers, it was stated that the new billing system took effect on Tuesday, 3rd June. Under this structure, users will be charged ₦6.98 per 120-second USSD session, with the deduction made by their mobile network operator rather than from their bank accounts.
The development marks a significant shift in the USSD payment framework and is seen as an effort by the NCC to resolve the longstanding dispute between mobile network operators and banks over USSD service charges.
Industry watchers believe the move could streamline billing processes and reduce friction between telecom providers and financial institutions, though customer response and overall impact remain to be seen.