The State Bank of India (SBI) has announced that SMS fees for mobile fund transfers will no longer apply. Simply put, this means that the biggest lender in India's customers can now conveniently transact without paying extra fees.
“SMS charges now waived off on mobile fund transfers! Users can now conveniently transact without any additional charges using USSD services," the bank said in a tweet.
What is USSD:
Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, or USSD, is a technology that can be accessed on all mobile devices that have an SMS feature. This is typically used for other mobile banking transactions as well as checking the balance of talk time or account information. For those who use feature phones, USSD is a very useful feature. It is important to note that about 65% of people in the nation use mobile phones.
In order to avail of the service, SBI customers simply need to dial *99#. The service is absolutely free.
Registration process for USSD:
- SBI customers need to send ‘hi’ on this number 9223440000. User ID and default MPIN will be sent shortly
- Change the default MPIN by dialling *595#
- Register at ATM/Branch/Internet Banking
At the ATM: Visit the nearest ATM bank and swipe your debit card. Now select mobile registration > mobile banking > Registration > enter your mobile number and confirm.
Internet Banking: Log in to your SBI account > select eServices > State Bank Freedom from the list on the left side > Registration > Enter User ID and mobile number > Select the account (only SB/ CA) to be enabled > submit.
