Starting from June 3, 2025, customers who use the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) banking service with United Bank for Africa (UBA) will notice a major change in how they are charged.
Instead of taking the fees from their bank accounts, the charges will now come directly from their mobile phone airtime balance.
This adjustment comes as a result of a new billing directive issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). UBA made this announcement in a message to customers on Tuesday, titled “New NCC-Mandated USSD Billing Process.”
The new payment method falls under the NCC’s End-User Billing (EUB) model. According to this model, mobile network providers are now responsible for deducting charges from users’ airtime each time a USSD service is used.
This replaces the earlier process where banks deducted the cost straight from customers’ accounts.
UBA explained that every USSD session will now cost ₦6.98 for every 120 seconds of usage. Before any money is taken from a customer’s airtime, they will see a message asking for their consent to continue. Charges will only apply once the user agrees and the bank is ready to complete the request.
