{"id":4108,"date":"2025-06-19T08:42:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T11:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=4108"},"modified":"2026-04-19T16:13:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T19:13:31","slug":"nigerias-ussd-billing-shift-may-hit-gamblerss-pockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/nigerias-ussd-billing-shift-may-hit-gamblerss-pockets","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria’s USSD billing shift may hit gamblers’s pockets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Telecom operators have begun deducting USSD fees from airtime balances, raising concerns for payment-reliant platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Nigeria.- Mobile users in Nigeria are now paying directly for every Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)<\/strong> service, placing the cost firmly on subscribers. But, the ripple effect could impact gamblers, as even a small charge could disrupt user engagement, and USSD-based payments and deposit flows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of June 18, telecom operators began deducting N6.98 per 120 seconds ($0.0045) from users\u2019 airtime balances for USSD access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The change was confirmed in a joint statement by Gbenga Adebayo<\/strong>, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, and Damian Udeh<\/strong>, the association\u2019s Publicity Secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUSSD services play a vital role in expanding access to financial services, particularly for unbanked and underbanked populations,\u201d Adebayo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, the previous corporate billing model where banks were billed by telecom operators led to prolonged disputes over unpaid charges, service interruptions and uncertainty for customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that customers would receive a prompt to opt-in and approve the charge before deduction, and billing would only occur for successful sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Nigeria, many betting platforms and sportsbooks depend on USSD for wallet top-ups, account verification, and reaching users with data access. With direct charges now affecting every USSD interaction, players who rely on data or airtime for transactions may hesitate to proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move could see casino operators <\/strong>moving toward app based and web based payment options or offer airtime-linked bonuses to absorb part of the user\u2019s cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the functionality of USSD banking services <\/strong>remains unchanged, users must now ensure they have sufficient airtime to complete transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move comes after the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)<\/strong>, in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) <\/strong>and key stakeholders, rolled out the End User Billing (EUB)<\/strong> model. This game changing directive shifts the cost of USSD services from banks, who were previously stuck with a staggering N250 billion ($169m) debt, directly onto consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The direct USSD billing model is expected to bring long-term stability to telecom and financial systems. But for digital platforms, the challenge now is maintaining seamless, low-cost user access in a market where every second counts and costs.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> PalmPay – New payment contender for igamers expands across Africa<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Telecom operators have begun deducting USSD fees from airtime balances, raising concerns for payment-reliant platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2396,"featured_media":4113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Nigerian telecom operators have initiated direct USSD fee deductions from consumer airtime balances, shifting costs from banks to end-users. This policy change, driven by the NCC and CBN, poses a significant challenge for iGaming operators and other payment-reliant platforms in Nigeria, potentially disrupting player deposit flows and necessitating a pivot towards alternative, app-based payment solutions to mitigate user friction and maintain engagement.","focusai_entities":"Gbenga Adebayo, Damian Udeh, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)","focusai_location":"Nigeria","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.85), operator_casino (0.98), affiliate_publisher (0.75), product_ux (0.9), marketing_crm (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.98), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Operator Strategy Shift","query":"What specific strategic adjustments are iGaming operators implementing in Nigeria to mitigate the impact of direct USSD billing on player deposit conversion and GGR?"},{"label":"Regulatory Framework Evolution","query":"How will the NCC and CBN monitor the long-term stability and consumer protection aspects of the End User Billing model, particularly concerning potential market distortions or financial exclusion?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60022,60012],"tags":[60108,60138,78],"class_list":["post-4108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","category-west-africa","tag-casino","tag-legislation","tag-sports-betting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2396"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4108"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4118,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4108\/revisions\/4118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}