Guaranty Trust {Bank} (GTBank) has begun charging the ₦6.98 Unstructured Supplementary Service Knowledge (USSD) charge straight from prospects’ airtime balances, ending the observe of debiting {bank} accounts for the service.
In textual content messages despatched early Wednesday, the lender knowledgeable prospects that the brand new billing mannequin takes impact instantly.
“Pricey Buyer, please be told that efficient 18 June 2025, the ₦6.98 USSD charge shall be deducted out of your airtime stability, not out of your {bank account},” the {bank} stated.
The change aligns GTBank with a number of different deposit‑cash banks which have already migrated to the airtime‑deduction mannequin mandated by the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC) in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
For greater than 4 years, cellular‑community operators have pressed banks to settle excellent USSD service expenses, which they stated bumped into tens of billions of naira.
In March 2021, the NCC and CBN launched a flat ₦6.98 per USSD session to streamline collections and stop service disruptions.
Regardless of that framework, disagreements persevered over who ought to accumulate and remit the charge. Transferring the cost to airtime locations assortment squarely with telecom operators, eradicating banks from the billing chain.
Clients should guarantee they’ve ample airtime earlier than initiating any USSD transaction (stability checks, transfers, invoice funds, and so forth.).
The core banking transaction itself stays freed from further {bank} expenses past current switch charges.
Failed USSD makes an attempt will nonetheless devour the ₦6.98 charge as soon as a session is established.
GTBank’s adoption means most tier‑1 banks now invoice the USSD charge through airtime—a transfer regulators say will remove future service interruptions and produce lengthy‑working telco–{bank} disputes to a detailed.
