Union Bank Airtime Topup Service: How does it work?

Posted by Felix Okoli on Saturday June 4, 2016 at 13:22:28:

I'm not sure if this is official but I think Union bank has an airtime TopUp service that allows bank account owners to buy airtime directly from their registered mobile phone numbers using the code *389*032*Amount#.

The reason why I wrote that I'm not sure if it's official is because I've tried it and it was not successful as I got an error via SMS stating that "Your bank did not approve this transaction". This is quite different from what I get from other banks because theirs worked quite effectively once they started offering the service. I wonder if my bank wants me to first visit and apply for the service in person before they allow me to start using the airtime top up service.

My Union bank account is one of the oldest bank accounts I've had during those days when there were few banks and so it was basically a savings account I opened in those days and don't really remember how much is in my account as the balance.

As more and more Nigerian banks started offering airtime topup service through mobile phones, Union bank seems to have also joined in but lately since they are a bit more conservative than innovative like the new banks.

It was after I got an SMS alert from the bank about their USSD based service that I tried it out but it wasn't successful. I tried the first time and was asked to also provide my account number after which I received an SMS that I've been subscribed for the service. However, I later got another SMS that my bank didn't approve of the service.

So, with the way I see it, Union bank of Nigeria seems to have a USSD based airtime top up service that works with one's registered phone and bank account but I'm nto sure if it has been fully activated yet. Perhaps, a subscriber would have to formally apply for it at the bank before it would be manually activated for them.

Has anyone tried loading airtime credit using Union bank's USSD code and it worked? It would really be helpful if you would provide me with the right code to make that work for me too because the only code I know that doesn't yet work fully is the one that comes in this format: *389*032*Amount#.