MTN SME Data Is Now Data Transfer: 1GB ₦400 and Balance Code

MTN SME data isn't sold to the public any more. MTN stopped around March 2025, and the plans that now fill that old slot on vendor lists carry a new name: "MTN Data Transfer". A gigabyte that lasts a week costs ₦400 on AidaPay. You get ₦4 of that back as cashback.

Checking what's left takes seconds. Dial *323*4# on the phone that received the data, and keep the backup code further down for the days it shows nothing. Cheap plans didn't vanish; they just wear a new label and still land on any MTN number you type in.

What SME data means now that it says "Data Transfer"

SME stands for small and medium enterprises. Years ago MTN sold data in bulk to businesses, and vendors resold it to people like you by the gigabyte. That name stuck so hard that half the country now says "SME" when it simply means cheap data, the same way some homes call every packet of noodles Indomie.

Our guide on what SME data actually is covers the history. Airtel followed MTN out of public SME sales. Glo still sells it. So anyone selling "MTN SME" today, our own list name included, is using an old name for a newer product called Data Transfer.

Here's how SME data works on MTN now. A seller pushes the data straight to whatever MTN number you enter, and from then on the line browses as normal until the data or the days run out.

AWUF bundles sit near these plans too. They cram lots of data into a life of one day to a week, which suits a heavy weekend and fails as a monthly plan.

How much SME data costs on MTN now (16 October 2026)

Every Data Transfer plan on the list pays the same 1% cashback, so cashback can't pick a winner for you. Look at the last column instead. It divides the after-cashback price by the gigabytes you actually get.

MTN Data Transfer (SME) plans on AidaPay, with cashback. Prices as at 16 October 2026

Buy cheap MTN data on AidaPay, for your own line or someone else's: send data to any MTN number.

Prices move, sometimes weekly.

Before you pay, the app shows the live price and cashback, so trust that over the screenshot your uncle forwarded to the family WhatsApp group last month.

Which MTN data plan should you pick?

Start with how long the data has to last. Size comes second. For most phones that points to a monthly plan, because the weekly versions save you surprisingly little once you see what you give up. Take the 2GB plan: the monthly one costs only ₦100 more and stays on your line three weeks longer.

Payday comes, you top up, and by the third week WhatsApp is telling you your data has finished while your account is still recovering from rent. Next month, go one size up instead of patching the hole with daily bundles that disappear faster than meat from a pot of party jollof.

On cost per gigabyte, the weekly 3GB plan wins the table. There's a catch. Whatever's left on day eight disappears and takes your saving with it, so it only pays if you can finish it inside seven days. Skip the 500MB plan when you can. It costs nearly as much as a full weekly gigabyte for half the data, and it only makes sense on a sapa day.

Then think about whose phone it is. A student who lives on WhatsApp chews through data, since voice notes, video clips and lecture PDFs in class groups eat far more than text ever will. Give that line the monthly 3GB plan. Your mum mostly sends voice notes and watches the odd church livestream clip. She may be fine on the monthly 2GB, and if her line keeps running short, the bigger plan spares everyone a stressful last week.

Other MTN plans you'll see near the SME list

MTN's 1.2GB social plan runs for a month. On AidaPay it costs ₦443. You get ₦2.22 of that back as cashback. Its catch: it only works on social media apps, so a lecture PDF won't open in the browser. A parent who mostly chats and scrolls will hardly notice.

Next to it sits a daily gigabyte bundled with a minute and a half of calls. It costs ₦492 on AidaPay. Cashback on it is ₦2.95. That's more than the ₦400 weekly gigabyte, spent on one day of browsing. Keep it for emergencies.

What happened to MoMo's ₦200 gigabyte?

MoMo's ₦200 gigabyte deal has ended. If its code still turns up in an old WhatsApp broadcast, don't plan your month around it.

For a single gigabyte today, MTN's own weekly plan costs ₦800. You activate it by text: send 142 to 312. In the table, the weekly Data Transfer gigabyte does the same job for half that, ₦400. It pays ₦4 cashback and can go to any MTN number. For a whole month, take the monthly 2GB on the MTN data buy page at ₦950. That one pays ₦9.50 cashback.

How to check your MTN SME data balance

Dial *323*4# from the phone holding the SIM that got the data. Your main and bonus data show up in the reply, each with its own expiry date. Our guide to data balance codes for every network has the codes for the other networks too.

A small note at the top of our MTN SME list trips people up. It says "Dial *461*4# to check data balance", yet every Data Transfer plan underneath points to the first code. Older how-to guides online still carry codes from that family, which is why it keeps turning up in searches. Only one has to work.

Maybe this has happened in your house. You send data to your mum, she dials plain *323#, a menu pops up, and a minute later she's on the phone saying nothing arrived. All along, the data sat there, hiding behind a menu she never opened.

On the phone that received the data:

1. Dial the MTN balance code above and read the reply for your data and its expiry date.
2. If the bundle doesn't show, try the backup code from our list on the same phone.
3. If you'd rather not dial, text 2 to 323 from that line, and the balance comes back by SMS.
4. If nothing shows, compare the number on your receipt with the SIM in your hand.
5. Only after that, message the seller with a screenshot of the balance reply and your receipt.

How to buy MTN data for any number

Same steps for your own line and for someone else's. Only the care you take typing the number changes.

1. Decide who the data is for and how long it has to last, using the table above.
2. Open the MTN SME list in the app or on the MTN data buy page, and pick a plan with "Data Transfer" in its name.
3. Type the MTN number that should get the data, then read it back slowly, digit by digit.
4. Check the price and the cashback shown next to the plan, then pay and keep the receipt.
5. Ask the person to check their balance once the data lands, so you both know it arrived.

Take extra care with step three when the number came from a WhatsApp message, because one wrong digit sends your data to a stranger's line and nobody sends it back.

What these plans won't do: share, roll over or come back

Sharing is the first letdown. MTN asks you to buy a shareable data bundle before you share, and Data Transfer plans aren't among MTN's shareable bundles. Even those bundles come with limits. MTN caps sharing at 5GB a day. At least 100MB has to stay on the sending line after each transfer. So don't buy the biggest monthly plan hoping to split it with your sister. Send her a plan of her own, straight to her number, and nobody ends up fighting over the last half gigabyte. She can dial *312*7*3# to request data from you, but that only helps when your bundle is one MTN lets you share. Gifting outright works differently: dial *312*, then the bundle's activation code, then her number.

Validity won't bend either. Each plan runs for the days in its name, with no rollover to count on, so use the data before the last day.

When you're ready, open the MTN data buy page, pick the monthly plan that matches how the phone really gets used, and send it to the exact number. Once it lands, have that phone dial the balance code. If nothing shows, try the backup code before you panic.

Frequently asked questions

Published 30 September 2026, updated 17 October 2026. Prices and codes change - if you spot one that has moved, tell us and we will fix it.