Moniepoint Microfinance Bank customers can now use the bank’s USSD service to establish whether they qualify for the Federal Government’s ₦50,000 National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention (NERSI) and accept payment if selected.
The bank announced the channel on Wednesday, 4 November, as one of the payment providers participating in the programme. The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction oversees the intervention, which provides financial assistance to vulnerable households facing rising living expenses.
Customers can dial *5573*27# from the phone number registered with their Moniepoint account and select the eligibility-check option. Those confirmed as beneficiaries can then follow the prompts to accept the grant and receive it in their accounts.
Moniepoint’s published NERSI guidance confirms the code and explains that the service works on basic mobile phones without an internet connection.
The government determines who receives support through verification processes drawing on the National Social Register and national identity records. Customers therefore need confirmation of selection before they can accept a payment.
The programme reaches beneficiaries in phases, with different groups receiving notifications at different times. Its official eligibility guidance states that selection does not require an application form and that intermediaries cannot add people to the beneficiary list.
The ministry announced the commencement of NERSI on 30 October. It said participating financial service providers would contact selected beneficiaries, obtain their consent and transfer payments directly to their accounts or mobile wallets.
Babatunde Olofin, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, said the bank would provide the technology through which its eligible customers could receive the assistance.
“We are pleased to enable our eligible customers to receive this relief support from the Federal Government’s NERSI initiative. At Moniepoint, we recognise its importance and are happy to contribute our technology and infrastructure to make the process seamless and secure in line with our avowed commitment to creating financial happiness for every Nigerian.”
He added: “We urge our customers to remain vigilant and use only our official USSD code when checking their eligibility or accessing the funds. The process comes at no additional cost and requires no extra documentation or third-party intervention. Their security remains a priority, and we encourage anyone with questions about the process to contact our customer service team or the official NERSI helpdesk”.
The bank’s guidance distinguishes receipt of the grant from subsequent cash withdrawals. Accepting and receiving the payment attract no charge, while a point-of-sale agent may apply the usual withdrawal fee when a beneficiary collects cash. The guidance also identifies the assistance as a grant that beneficiaries do not have to repay.
Moniepoint also cited its participation in earlier public programmes involving the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Kaduna State Government.
According to the bank, those assignments included facilitating subsidised food distribution to more than 800,000 beneficiaries and supporting revenue collection for national fertiliser programmes.
It further reported disbursing ₦3 billion to 2,400 vulnerable people through an Ultra-Poor Graduation Programme. The bank presented these interventions as examples of its previous work administering payments for public-sector partners.
For NERSI, Moniepoint said it would use its banking infrastructure and network of POS terminals, which it reported spans Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, to support access to the payments.