USSD

USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) is a mobile communication protocol that lets users interact with a service through a short code menu without internet, without a smartphone, and without a downloaded app. It works on any GSM handset, including basic feature phones, and runs entirely over the mobile network's signaling channel. Because it requires no data connection and no app, USSD remains one of the most reliable ways to reach mobile users in low-connectivity markets across Africa, Asia, and emerging markets..

Digital lenders, mobile money operators, microfinance institutions, and insurers operating across Africa, Southeast Asia and other global markets share a common communication challenge: their customers are not a uniform population. Some have smartphones and mobile data. Many use feature phones. Some are in areas with consistent network coverage. Others are not. Building a customer communication system that reaches all of them, reliably, at scale, across multiple products and markets, requires different decisions than a communication setup built for a connected, smartphone-first customer base..