No one can deny that the introduction of USSD tech into the banking system has made things easier. To prove that, we asked four people to tell us about the times their bank’s USSD feature got them out of sticky situations.
“That one time I went on a date with a girl (with just cash) to an expensive restaurant and she ordered more than I anticipated so the bill ended up being more than the cash I had on me.“
– Kunle
“When my date asked why I was suddenly sweating buckets, I lied that the AC wasn’t cold enough. At one point, I took the waiter to the side and asked if the restaurant had an account I could transfer money to. They did.“
“And that was how I avoided having to wash plate to pay my debt.“
“That one time I took a cab from V.I to Isolo and mistakenly clicked on “cash” instead of “card” forgetting that I, in fact, had no cash. “
– Joe
“The driver thought I had planned to ride and run away when I tried to explain my problem to him and became agitated. But I was able to calm him down enough to consider my request to transfer the money to his account. He was glad when he saw how fast he received the money.”
“My DStv subscription ran out in the middle of the world cup finals viewing party I was throwing.”
– Obinna
“Do you know what happens when you turn off the TV showing soccer in a room full of 40 passionate soccer fans? A riot, that’s what. And it was on a Sunday too, so if not for my bank’s USSD feature, I’m pretty sure they would have wrecked my house.”
“I ran out of data during a Skype video call with potential employers.”
– Juliet
“I had jumped through so many hoops to get this job interview. Things were going smoothly. I was even cracking jokes with them and they were responding positively. I was about to drop a punchline when everything just went dark. I was already freaking out and crying when I remembered I could purchase the data with the USSD feature. As I bought data from my bank, I was chanting, ‘Hay God! Hay God!’
“Luckily, they were understanding because I came back online quickly.”
USSD banking was created so that banking transactions would no longer be stressful or dependent on time and location. This is what First City Monument Bank(FCMB) wanted for its customers when it launched its own USSD service. All any account holder with FCMB needs to do is dial *329#to register (on any phone type) and they’re all set to bank on the go!
