Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has begun charging the ₦6.98 Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) fee directly from customers’ airtime balances, ending the practice of debiting bank accounts for the service.
In text messages sent early Wednesday, the lender informed customers that the new billing model takes effect immediately.
“Dear Customer, please be informed that effective 18 June 2025, the ₦6.98 USSD fee will be deducted from your airtime balance, no longer from your bank account,” the bank said.
The change aligns GTBank with several other deposit‑money banks that have already migrated to the airtime‑deduction model mandated by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
For more than four years, mobile‑network operators have pressed banks to settle outstanding USSD service charges, which they said ran into tens of billions of naira.
In March 2021, the NCC and CBN introduced a flat ₦6.98 per USSD session to streamline collections and prevent service disruptions.
Despite that framework, disagreements persisted over who should collect and remit the fee. Moving the charge to airtime places collection squarely with telecom operators, removing banks from the billing chain.
Customers must ensure they have sufficient airtime before initiating any USSD transaction (balance checks, transfers, bill payments, etc.).
The core banking transaction itself remains free of additional bank charges beyond existing transfer fees.
Failed USSD attempts will still consume the ₦6.98 fee once a session is established.
GTBank’s adoption means most tier‑1 banks now bill the USSD fee via airtime—a move regulators say will eliminate future service interruptions and bring long‑running telco–bank disputes to a close.
