Introduction

Shortcode Africa empowers you to build ussd apps, accept payments and send sms in a few steps. The platform is a simple but sophisticated USSD cloud solution. Your application can be live within minutes of signing up. You can also connnect to external APIs and databases from within your application. You can select a shortcode of your choice and make your solution live instantly.

How It Works

USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) is a protocol used by GSM cellphones to communicate with their service provider’s computers via text messages. We commonly use it to check mobile airtime, transfer money and data balance enquiries, or to receive one-time passwords or PIN codes, among many applications.

USSD most commonly involves a query generated by a cellphone user (such as a balance enquiry). Once this request is sent, the USSD gateway forwards it to your USSD application. The application then responds to the request, and the process is repeated in reverse: the response goes back to the USSD gateway, which displays the content of that response on your phone screen.

Responses are usually sent in an easily displayed format, containing a maximum of 182 alphanumeric characters. Messages sent over USSD are not defined by any universal standardisation, so each operator is free to use a format most suited to its customers.