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 sit in that old slot on vendor lists go by a new name: "MTN Data Transfer". On AidaPay, a gigabyte that lasts a week costs ₦400, and ₦4 of it comes back as cashback. Those prices are as at 30 September 2026.

Checking what's left is easy. Dial *323*4# on the phone that received the data, and a backup code further down covers the times it shows nothing. So relax. The cheap plans didn't vanish. They 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. The 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. When MTN pulled out of public SME sales, Airtel followed. 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. A seller pushes the data straight to whatever MTN number you enter, and you browse as normal until the data or the days run out.

Near these plans you'll also spot AWUF bundles, which cram lots of data into a life of one day to a week: lovely for a heavy weekend, useless as a monthly plan.

How much SME data costs on MTN now (30 September 2026)

Every Data Transfer plan on the list pays the same 1% cashback. So cashback can't pick a winner for you. The last column can, because it divides the after-cashback price by the gigabytes you actually get.

MTN Data Transfer (SME) plans on AidaPay, with cashback

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 single gigabyte. The monthly version costs only ₦120 more than the weekly one and stays on your line three weeks longer.

You know this month well. 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 beats everything in the table. There's a condition. You have to finish it inside seven days, because whatever's left on day eight disappears and takes your saving with it.

Skip the 500MB plan when you can. It costs nearly as much as a full weekly gigabyte for half the data, so save it for a sapa day. And if a line on the monthly 2GB might run short, the bigger plan spares you a stressful last week.

Then think about whose phone it is. A student living 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, so she may be fine on the monthly gigabyte.

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, with ₦2.22 back. 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.

You'll also see a daily gigabyte bundled with a minute and a half of calls. It's ₦492 on AidaPay, with ₦2.95 cashback. That's nearly the price of a month's gigabyte, spent on one day of browsing, so keep it for emergencies.

Then there's MoMo's ₦200 gigabyte. Our comparison of MoMo's daily gigabyte with weekly and monthly plans found it cheaper per gigabyte than anything above. Its short life is the catch. It lasts one day, works only on your own line and can't be shared, while Data Transfer plans reach any MTN number and run for a week or a month.

How to check your MTN SME data balance

Dial *323*4# from the phone holding the SIM that got the data. Our guide to data balance codes for every network lists it as the MTN code. The reply shows your main and bonus data, each with its own expiry date.

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 list codes from that family, so it keeps turning up in searches. You only need one that works.

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 calling to say nothing arrived. The data sat there all along, 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, MTN also lets you 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

You follow the 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's gifting page tells customers to buy "a shareable data bundle" before sharing, and Data Transfer plans aren't among the bundles it names. Even shareable bundles come with limits. MTN's Gift Data page caps sharing at 5GB a day. After each transfer, at least 100MB has to stay on the sending line.

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.

MTN's page does say she can dial *312*8# to request data from you. That only helps when your bundle is one MTN lets you share. Gifting outright works differently: you 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 and the list mentions no rollover, so whatever's left on the last day is gone.

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. Prices and codes change - if you spot one that has moved, tell us and we will fix it.