Things have changed in different sectors in Nigeria, and the banking sector is not left out. Banking in Nigeria has drifted from physical to mobile and online/internet banking.

Nigeria's best banks have leveraged the ease and speed of mobile banking, making the sector more effective.

Nowadays, you do not need to visit the bank to make transfers, recharge your phones, or pay your bills. You can do that while on the go or right from the confines of your home simply by dialing the USSD code of your bank.

The introduction of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, also known as USSD codes, has made banking and banking activities easier for Nigerians.

With the USSD code, you don't need to connect to the internet. Unlike mobile app banking (which is also good, by the way), USSD codes can be used to make transactions using any phone without the internet.

In this article, we will also teach you how to use the USSD codes to perform transactions. Meanwhile, here is a full list of the USSD codes for Nigerian banks.

Bank USSD codes

Check out the USSD codes for different banks in Nigeria.

Access bank USSD code

The Access Bank USSD code allows you to make transactions and enjoy other banking benefits and services right from your phone without an internet connection or data and without visiting the bank.

Access Bank's USSD code is *901#.

EcoBank USSD code

If you are an Ecobank customer, the EcoBank USSD code will always come in handy whenever you want to make a transaction from your bank account.

The EcoBank USSD Code is *326#.

Fidelity Bank USSD code

Once you have a fidelity bank account, this is very simple. Just dial the Fidelity Bank USSD code on your phone, which is *770#. Select 'Banking' and start banking!

First Bank USSD code

The First Bank of Nigeria provides USSD Banking Service for its customers, which allows customers to make transactions on their phone devices using the USSD code.

The USSD code for First Bank of Nigeria is *894#.

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) USSD code

Dial the First City Monument Bank USSD code to top up airtime on your mobile device, transfer funds, check your account balance, etc. The USSD code for First City Monument Bank is *389*214#.

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) USSD code

You can initiate a transfer or some other bank transaction by dialing the GTB USSD short code. The USSD short code for GTB is *737#.

Heritage Bank USSD code

Do you have an account with heritage bank and seek a fast means of running transactions with the bank? It would help if you tried using the bank's USSD short code. The USSD code for Heritage Bank is *322*00#.

Jaiz Bank USSD code

JAIZ Bank may not be popular, especially for people in the southern part of Nigeria, but the bank does have a strong banking system. They are not left out in the use of USSD short codes.

The USSD code for Jaiz Bank is *389*301.

Keystone Bank USSD code

The USSD banking code is the easiest and fastest means of checking your account balance and sending money and airtime from your account to another account or mobile network.

The USSD code for Keystone Bank is *7111#.

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Polaris Bank USSD code

Polaris Bank USSD code is quick and simple to use. Dial the Polaris Bank USSD code, *833#, for your banking activities.

Stanbic IBTC Bank USSD code

Stanbic IBTC Bank also introduced the USSD code, which works with any phone number registered to your bank account (just as it is with other banks).

The USSD code for Stanbic IBTC is *909#.

Sterling Bank USSD code

The Unstructured Supplementary Service Data or USSD allows Sterling Bank customers to access basic financial services by dialing the USSD short code.

The USSD code for Sterling Bank is *822#.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) USSD code

The UBA USSD code enables UBA customers to carry out various tasks, such as transferring funds, topping up airtime, and even opening a UBA account.

UBA USSD code is *919#.

Union Bank USSD code

Here is an easy way to carry out basic banking operations from your union bank account - using the Union Bank USSD code.

For a Union Bank customer, dial the Union Bank USSD code, *826#, to get started.

Unity Bank USSD code

Transfer funds from your Unity Bank account using the USSD short code. The USSD code for Unity Bank is *7799#.

Wema Bank USSD code

Wema Bank has a convenient shortcode that allows its bank account holders to carry out basic banking operations easily.

The Wema Bank USSD code is *945#.

Zenith Bank USSD code

Zenith Bank was among the first banks in Nigeria to launch the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) account control code, which customers can use to make some bank transactions easily.

The Zenith Bank USSD code is *966#.

How to activate and use bank USSD codes

Using the USSD code for a Nigerian bank to perform banking operations is super easy. The Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) is a cool feature that every bank account holder should use for convenience.

However, before using the USSD code to perform banking transactions, you must have an account with the bank. You can also open a bank account with most banks by using the USSD code.

Note:

The phone number you are dialing the USSD code from must be the phone number associated with your bank account.

How to use USSD code for banking operations

Here is a simple step to activate and start using your bank's USSD code. This applies to all the banks listed above.

  1. Input the bank's USSD code on your phone and dial it using the phone number associated with that particular bank account.
  2. Follow through with the prompt displayed on your phone's display.
  3. If it is your first time using the bank USSD code, you will be required to set up a PIN to approve or verify your future transactions.

After setting up your PIN, you are good to go. The procedure is simple. Dial the USSD short code; a list of services will be listed out for you; follow through with the prompt depending on what you want to do.

You can transfer to an account in the same bank, transfer to another bank, top-up airtime, open a new account, etc.