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Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) has begun the deduction of the N6.98 charge for USSD banking transactions directly from customers’ airtime instead of their bank accounts.
In a message sent to its customers, the bank said the new method took effect on Wednesday (today), June 18, 2025.
“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,” the message read.
This move follows a new directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), supported by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which asked all banks to adopt this new billing system. The change aims to settle long-standing disagreements between banks and telecoms operators over unpaid USSD charges.
Before now, banks deducted the fee directly from users’ bank accounts. Telecoms operators, however, complained that banks were using their USSD platforms without paying for it on time, which reportedly led to a N250 billion debt by 2024.
To solve the problem, NCC introduced what it called the End-User Billing model. This new model mandated banks to pay off the money they owe and begin deducting future USSD fees from customers’ airtime.
Under this new arrangement, when a customer wants to use USSD, they will first see a message showing the N6.98 charge. If they have enough airtime and agree to the charge, only then will the transaction go through and the fee deducted.
This new policy affects all banks, and GTBank is now among those fully implementing it.
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