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The short answer
Yes, sometimes, but not automatically. A USSD transfer between banks runs on the same instant transfer system as an app transfer, so the same CBN rules apply: where you made the mistake, the receiving bank can place a lien but needs the account holder's consent (or a court order) to return the money. Report it to your bank in writing the same day with the session ID.
USSD feels different from an app: you dial a code, type digits on a small screen and confirm with a PIN, often in a hurry. That makes mistakes easy, especially when the beneficiary is an account that uses a phone number as its account number, where one wrong digit sends money to a stranger. The good news is that the rules for getting it back are no different from any other transfer. The bad news is that they are also no better.
Why USSD is treated like any other transfer
A USSD code is only the front door. When you send money from your bank to another bank, the transfer itself travels over the NIBSS Instant Payment system (NIP), exactly as it would from your app or internet banking. NIBSS describes NIP as account-number-based and real-time: the receiving bank can make the funds available to the beneficiary before the banks settle with each other. In practice this means the money may already be spendable by the recipient within seconds.
Because the rails are the same, the CBN's regulation on instant interbank transfers, as summarised by the law firm G Elias, applies to USSD as it does to apps. It draws a sharp line between two cases:
- The bank made the error (for example, a system fault credited the wrong account). The regulation allows the transfer to be reversed without the beneficiary's authorisation, on a request made within 14 working days, with reversal within one business day.
- The customer made the error (you typed the wrong number). The beneficiary's consent is needed. The receiving bank can place a lien on the amount for up to two weeks while it seeks that consent, and if consent is not given, the banks' internal auditors mediate within two weeks.
A mistyped digit on USSD is almost always the second case.
Before you send: the name check
NIP includes a name enquiry: the sending bank looks up the account name for the number you entered before you confirm. On USSD this name usually appears on the confirmation screen, often truncated. Many wrong transfers happen because people confirm without reading it. If the name on the screen is not the person you meant, cancel. If you have already sent, that name is the first piece of information you need.
Getting the beneficiary's details from the bank
Readers often ask the bank for the wrong recipient's phone number so they can call and plead. Banks will usually refuse, because the recipient's details are personal data. What you can get, and should insist on, is:
- The session ID and transaction reference for your transfer, from your own bank (also shown in your SMS alert or statement).
- Confirmation that your bank has sent a recall request to the receiving bank, and the date.
- Confirmation from the receiving bank, through your bank, that a lien has been placed and the amount it covers. A lien only works if money is still in the account.
- The outcome of the request for consent, in writing.
Moniepoint's own fraud help pages, for example, say it shares customer data with police only on a valid court order. That is typical: the beneficiary's identity reaches you through the police or the court, not the bank's helpline. Our guides to a police report for a wrong transfer and a court order to recover a wrong transfer cover those routes.
Steps, in order
- Note the beneficiary name shown, the amount, time and session ID from your SMS or app.
- Call your bank's customer care and say clearly: "I made an erroneous USSD transfer and want a recall and lien." Then put the same in writing by email or the app, so the clock starts on a record.
- Ask for a ticket or tracking number. The CBN complaint guide says one should be issued within three days.
- Follow up with your bank, not the receiving bank; the request travels bank to bank.
- If the recipient refuses or cannot be reached, read what to do when the receiver refuses to return it.
- If your bank does not act within two weeks, escalate to the CBN Consumer Protection Department with your evidence; see how to complain about a bank or fintech.
Failed USSD transfers are a different problem
If the transfer did not reach anyone but you were still debited, that is a failed transaction, not a wrong transfer, and the bank should reverse it without anyone's consent. Some banks state their own timelines; Sterling Bank's FAQ, for example, says failed *822# transactions are reversed automatically within 24 hours. The 2018 CBN regulation, as reported by ThisDay at the time, also set a ₦10,000 fine on a bank for a failed instant transfer not reversed within 24 hours of a complaint. Whether that fine is applied today is not something we could confirm, so cite the regulation and let the bank respond.
Questions people ask
Can USSD transfer be reversed in Nigeria?
A failed USSD transfer should be reversed by your bank. A successful transfer to the wrong account can only be returned with the recipient's consent or a court order, though the receiving bank can place a lien while it asks.
Will my bank give me the phone number of the person I sent money to by mistake?
Usually not, because it is the recipient's personal data. Banks typically release it only to the police or under a court order. Ask instead for confirmation of the recall request and the lien.
How fast should I report a wrong USSD transfer?
Immediately, the same day if possible. A lien can only hold money that is still in the recipient's account. The CBN regulation also expects a recall request within 14 working days where the bank was at fault.
Is a USSD transfer different from a mobile app transfer?
Not in the way it moves. Interbank USSD transfers use the same NIBSS Instant Payment system as app transfers, so the same rules on errors and reversals apply.
Sources
- Mondaq (G Elias): CBN Regulation on Instant (Inter-Bank) Electronic Funds Transfer Services (8 Jul 2025) · accessed Oct 2026
- NIBSS: NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP), page modified 17 Apr 2026 · accessed Oct 2026
- Sterling Bank: FAQs (*822# USSD) · accessed Oct 2026
- ThisDay: CBN announces fines for failed transaction reversals (18 Sep 2018) · accessed Oct 2026
- Moniepoint Support: Fraud · accessed Oct 2026
- CBN: How to Lodge a Complaint (CPD/GEN/GUIDE/03, 24 Jan 2022) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.