Starting today Wednesday, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) will follow other banks in implementing a new charging model for its banking activities involving unstructured supplemental service data.
Customers received a notice stating that, as of today, June 18, 2025, the N6.98 transaction fee will now be taken out of airtime balances rather than bank accounts. It reads: “Dear Customer, please be informed that effective 18 June 2025, the N6.98 USSD fee will be deducted from your airtime balance, no longer from your bank account. Thank you.”
Continuing, to settle ongoing disputes between telecom providers and banks regarding unpaid USSD service charges, the Nigerian Communications Commission, working with the Central Bank of Nigeria, recommended a larger industry restructuring, reflecting this trend. Deposit Money Banks were instructed by the NCC to begin drawing fees from customers’ mobile airtime for unstructured supplemental service data transactions.
Remember how banks used to bill clients through their bank accounts and then automatically transfer the fees of USSD usage to telecom companies? Telcos, however, objected to banks making money off of the service while evading or postponing payments for the use of the infrastructure, resulting in debts that were projected to reach ₦250 billion by 2024. The NCC created an End-User Billing model to rectify this imbalance, directing banks to only transfer fees to airtime billing and refund debts once they have settled past-due obligations.
As long as there is enough balance, the new model will notify customers at the beginning of each USSD session and only drain airtime after confirmation.
