Code to Borrow Data From MTN: *303#, the 15% Fee and What You Owe

The code to borrow data from MTN is *303#. Dial it on your prepaid line, choose Borrow Data, pick an offer and confirm. MTN keeps a 15% fee upfront, so a ₦100 loan puts ₦85 of data on your line, and your next recharge repays the full ₦100. The maximum loan is ₦5,000.

Forget the old *606# code: it no longer works, and *303# is now the only USSD code MTN uses for borrowing. Below are the steps, how you pay the loan back, and when a small bundle is the cheaper move.

How to borrow data on MTN with *303#: Borrow Data or Borrow Credit

Two options sit on the *303# menu. Borrow Credit lends you airtime, while Borrow Data lends you data, the advance many people still call XtraByte, and both run under MTN's XtraTime service.

Dial from the line that needs the data:

1. Dial *303#.
2. Choose Borrow Data.
3. Pick one of the offers on your screen.
4. Confirm.

On a dual-SIM phone, check which SIM the call goes out on before you press dial. Make sure you tap Borrow Data and not Borrow Credit, or you'll end up holding airtime you didn't want and still owing MTN for it. If you'd rather tap than dial, the MyMTN app carries the same service, with the same rules and the same fee.

To borrow airtime from MTN instead, follow the same steps and choose Borrow Credit at step 2. The fee and the repayment work the same way.

Don't copy a friend's numbers. MTN sizes each offer from your own recharge history and the way you use the line. That's why two people sitting on the same bus can open the same menu at the same moment and still see different amounts on their screens. Since the restart, the maximum loan is ₦5,000, half of what MTN allowed before the shutdown.

Borrowing ₦100 leaves you with ₦85

MTN takes its 15% the moment you accept. Borrow ₦100 and only ₦85 of value reaches your line, yet the debt sitting on your line, waiting for your next recharge, stays at the full ₦100.

Seen the other way, the cost is higher than 15%, because you pay a hundred naira for eighty-five naira of value. That makes each naira of data you receive about 17.6% dearer than buying it outright. One small loan won't hurt, but borrowing twice a week, week after week, adds up, and none of that fee ever comes back to you.

Here's how a loan compares with buying a small bundle with your own money. Prices as at 25 October 2026.

If you have money in your bank app, buy cheap MTN data on AidaPay for your own line or someone else's. No fee comes out of the bundle.

How repayment works

Repayment happens on its own, with no button to press: your next recharge goes to MTN first, and only what's left after the debt is cleared stays yours.

A worked example makes it clear. You borrow ₦100 on Tuesday night. On Friday you recharge ₦500 airtime, planning to buy a bundle. MTN takes its ₦100 first, so only ₦400 is left for whatever you planned to buy.

If you top up only the bundle price, you'll come up short and wonder where the money went. Before that recharge, add the full amount you borrowed to the price of what you want. Then top up at least the total.

Should you borrow tonight?

Run these three checks before you open the borrow menu. They take under a minute, and they'll often save you the fee.

1. Check your data balance. There may be enough left for tonight.
2. Open your bank app. If you can cover a small bundle, buy it.
3. Only if both come up empty, dial *303# and take the smallest offer.

A loan earns its fee on one kind of night only: the account is empty, nobody can send you data, and payday is days away. If WhatsApp and a few voice notes will carry you through, the 500MB weekly bundle is usually enough. Borrow anyway and you should go small, because the fee grows with the loan.

What you owe, and why the menu sometimes says no

MTN runs the whole lending service from *303#, so that's where an outstanding loan lives. There's an easier test, though. If you've recharged at least the full amount you borrowed since taking the loan, MTN has already collected it and you owe nothing.

Loans don't stack. MTN won't lend again until the old one is cleared, and one recharge that covers it opens the door. On the second bad night of a week, you may dial *303# and find nothing, because Tuesday's loan is still waiting for a top-up.

Data left on the line is a separate check. Dial *323*4# to see what's left of your MTN data bundle. It shows your data, not your loan. If it shows nothing, try the other data balance codes for every network, or the full list of MTN USSD codes for the rest of the menus.

If *303# offers you nothing

Offers go only to eligible prepaid customers, judged on recharge history and usage, so a postpaid line won't see them at all. A brand-new SIM often comes up empty, and so does a line that rarely sees a top-up, because MTN has too little history to read and only regular recharges build it. An unpaid loan blocks a new one, so recharge enough to clear it first.

Dialling every five minutes won't change the answer.

For tonight, the quickest fix is another person. Anyone with money on their phone can buy MTN data for another number at the prices above, and the bundle reaches you with no fee taken out.

Why the old code to borrow data from MTN stopped working

Plenty of guides still give *606#. They're out of date, and the reason goes back to April.

In mid-April 2026, MTN switched XtraTime off. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) had brought in rules called DEON, short for Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending. Under DEON, an airtime or data advance counts as a loan, and anyone who wants to offer one has to register with the commission before lending anything.

On 22 May 2026, the FCCPC paused enforcement. Lending restarted on 8 July 2026, with *303# as the one USSD code for borrowing. MTN never revived *606#, yet people still dial it and wait for a menu that never appears. If your borrow menu went silent between April and July, nothing was wrong with your SIM, because the service was switched off for everyone on the network at once.

Next time you borrow, write the amount in your notes app straight away. Friday's recharge will make a lot more sense.

Frequently asked questions

Published 4 October 2026, updated 25 October 2026. Prices and codes change - if you spot one that has moved, tell us and we will fix it.