USSD Banking: Nigerians To Start Paying N4 For Every 20 Seconds From Oct 21

Nigerians who use Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channels to access banking services would have to pay new charges from today, Monday, October 21.

Naija News understands that some telecommunications network service providers in the country have sent notices to their customers of the new charge.

A notification sent by MTN to customers reads: “Please note that from Oct 21, we will charge N4 per 20 seconds for USSD access to banking services. Thank you.”

This online news platform understands that banking services were introduced on USSD channels in Nigeria in order to ensure easier access to banking services.

Before banking services were introduced on USSD channels in the country, telcos charged customers per USSD session. The charge differed across networks with the highest being N20 per session.

Meanwhile, this new charge would mean that customers will be charged N12 for every minute spent on the USSD channel.

Apparently displeased with the development, some customers went sent messages to their banks for further information on the charges.

Naija News understands that some banks have responded saying their charges remain unchanged.

“Our fees and charges on the USSD service remain unchanged and all our services are available,” Access Bank’s Twitter account replied to a customer.