How does a USSD payment work?
USSD stands for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, a mobile network service specified by 3GPP in technical specification 22.090. The Nigerian Communications Commission describes it as a way for phone users to interact with a remote application in real time: dialling a code starts a session, and screens pass information both ways. For a payment, the customer dials the provider’s code, picks options from numbered menus, enters the merchant number, reference and amount, and confirms with a PIN. Safaricom describes this for M-PESA through *334#, and Click in Uzbekistan runs the *880# menu next to its app.
Why does it matter?
It reaches people with basic phones, weak coverage or no data balance. In Nigeria, the NCC’s determination describes USSD as a platform for deepening financial inclusion, used by banks and other financial service providers. As an illustrative example: a store sells 5,000 naira digital vouchers and sees 300 of 2,000 monthly checkouts fail because the customer has no card that works online. If a third of them finish with a bank’s USSD code shown at checkout, that is 100 more orders, or 500,000 naira a month.
What are the limits?
Sessions are short and text only. The NCC’s March 2025 determination defines a USSD session as 20 seconds and lets sessions for banking and financial transactions last up to 120 seconds. A customer who is slow or loses signal must start again. The result reaches the merchant only through the provider’s notification, often after the customer has left the checkout page. Menus and customer charges differ by bank, operator and country.
Where does Omno use it?
Omno does not run USSD menus. It connects local methods, including mobile money and bank methods whose customers may confirm through USSD, through its PSPs and shows them in the hosted checkout based on eligibility rules. Because the customer completes the payment on the phone, the final status comes by webhook. Whether a USSD flow is offered depends on the method and provider.