One table of the short codes Nigerian banks publish for checking your balance, sending money and buying airtime, each one read from the bank's own website on the date shown.
Dial your bank's main code (for example *901# for Access, *737# for GTBank, *966# for Zenith, *894# for First Bank) from the phone number registered with the bank and follow the menu. The table below lists the shortcut strings each bank publishes for balance, transfers and airtime. Replace Amount with the naira figure and Account with the 10-digit account number, with no spaces.
| Bank | Main code | Check balance | Transfer money | Buy airtime (self) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access Bank | *901# | *901*00# | *901*Amount*Account# | *901*Amount# |
| GTBank | *737# | *737*6*1# | *737*1*Amount*Account# (GTBank) *737*2*Amount*Account# (other banks) | *737*Amount# |
| Zenith Bank | *966# | *966*00# | *966*Amount*Account# | *966*Amount# |
| UBA | *919# | Dial *919# and follow the menu | Dial *919# and follow the menu | Dial *919# and follow the menu |
| First Bank | *894# | *894*00# | *894*Amount*Account# | *894*Amount# |
| Fidelity Bank | *770# | *770*0# | *770*Account*Amount# | *770*Phone*Amount# |
| FCMB | *329# | *329*00# | *329*Amount*Account# | *329*Amount# |
| Sterling Bank | *822# | *822*6# | *822*Amount*Account# | *822*Amount# |
| Union Bank | *826# | *826*4# | *826*1*Amount*Account# (Union) *826*2*Amount*Account# (other banks) | *826*Amount# |
| Wema Bank (ALAT) | *945# | *945*0# | *945*Account*Amount# | *945*Amount# |
| Stanbic IBTC | *909# | Dial *909# and follow the menu | *909*11*Amount*Account# (Stanbic) *909*22*Amount*Account# (other banks) | *909*1# |
| Polaris Bank | *833# | *833*6# | *833*Amount*Account# | *833*Amount# |
| Keystone Bank | *7111# | *7111*00# | *7111*Amount*Account# | *7111*Amount# |
| Moniepoint | *5573# | *5573*5# | *5573*1*Amount*Account# (Moniepoint) *5573*2*Amount*Account# (other banks) | *5573*Amount# |
Airtime for another number follows the same pattern with the phone number added, for example *901*Amount*Phone# on Access, *737*Amount*Phone# on GTBank, *966*Amount*Phone# on Zenith, *894*Amount*Phone# on First Bank, *329*Amount*Phone# on FCMB, *822*Amount*Phone# on Sterling, *826*Amount*Phone# on Union, *945*Phone*Amount# on Wema, *833*Amount*Phone# on Polaris and *5573*Amount*Phone# on Moniepoint. Fidelity publishes *770*Phone*Amount# for buying airtime.
Kuda has no USSD code for sending money; its help centre says you cannot send money from a Kuda account by USSD, only add money to it using other banks' codes. Unity Bank, Ecobank, OPay and PalmPay publish USSD services, but on the day we checked we could not load the code pages on their own websites, so their strings are not listed here rather than copied from elsewhere. Dial the main code your bank gave you at account opening, or check inside its app.
The first time, dial the main code from the phone number your bank has on file. You will set a USSD PIN the first time; banks confirm it with details such as debit card digits or your date of birth.
A string like *737*2*1000*0123456789# (GTBank to another bank) does in one dial what the menu does in several screens. The bank still asks for your PIN before any money moves.
Banks note that the telephone networks charge a USSD session fee, which Zenith states as N6.98 per session on its USSD page. Some banks add their own small charge for transfers or balance checks; the figure is on the bank's USSD page.
USSD transfers carry daily caps, for example N20,000 per transaction and N100,000 a day on Zenith's PIN-only tier, as its USSD page states. Larger sums go through the bank's app.
USSD moves naira between bank accounts. If part of your money sits in USDT or another coin, Yesa turns it into naira in your bank: you see the exact naira figure before you confirm, Yesa charges zero sell fees, and the payout goes to any Nigerian bank account, including the ones in the table above. Across 1,700 measured bank payouts on Yesa, the median payout time was 4.7 seconds. These are historical measurements, not guarantees. The on-chain part, your crypto reaching Yesa, comes first and depends on the network you send on.
It depends on the bank: *901*00# on Access, *737*6*1# on GTBank, *966*00# on Zenith, *894*00# on First Bank, *770*0# on Fidelity, *329*00# on FCMB, *822*6# on Sterling, *826*4# on Union, *945*0# on Wema, *833*6# on Polaris, *7111*00# on Keystone and *5573*5# on Moniepoint. Dial from the phone number registered with the bank.
Most banks use one string for every bank, for example *901*Amount*Account# on Access or *966*Amount*Account# on Zenith, and then ask you to pick the receiving bank. GTBank, Union, Stanbic and Moniepoint use a separate string for other banks: *737*2*, *826*2*, *909*22* and *5573*2* followed by the amount and account number.
It needs no data. It does need the line to be active, and the networks charge a small session fee per dial, which the banks publish on their USSD pages.
USSD only works from the phone number the bank holds for your account. If you changed numbers, update it at the bank first, then register again by dialling the main code.
Kuda's help centre says you cannot send money from a Kuda account by USSD. OPay publishes USSD codes, but we could not confirm them from its own website on the day we checked, so they are not listed here. Both apps show your balance on the home screen.
No. Each bank has its own main code assigned by the networks, so the code you use is the one your bank publishes.
The Yesa Team. Details checked 27 October 2026. Codes and figures come from the institutions' own websites on the date shown; they change, so the bank, operator or regulator is the final word.