Direct answer
The five company shortcodes that dominate Ghana searches and daily dialling in 2026 are MTN *170#, ECG *226#, Telecel Cash / AT Money *110#, Ghana Water *1010#, and GCB Bank *422#. They belong to the firms people pay or bank with every week — not a random list of telco trivia.
Save these five
*170# wallet · *226# lights · *110# Telecel/AT wallet · *1010# water · *422# GCB.
One code for ECG + water + DSTV/GoTV + airtime/data from any MoMo: Ewale *714*22#.
| Rank | Shortcode | Company | What people actually dial it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | *170# |
MTN Ghana (MoMo) | Send money, wallet balance, cash out, merchant pay |
| 2 | *226# |
ECG | Prepaid tokens and postpaid electricity bills |
| 3 | *110# |
Telecel Ghana + AT Ghana | Telecel Cash or AT Money — the SIM decides which wallet opens |
| 4 | *1010# |
Ghana Water Ltd (GWL) | Check outstanding water bill and pay with MoMo |
| 5 | *422# |
GCB Bank PLC | Balance, transfers, MoMo link, airtime, school fees |
USSD option numbers move when a company ships a new menu. Trust the on-screen label (Send money, Pay bill, Check balance), not a screenshot from 2023. If a path in this guide does not match what you see, follow the live menu.
How this ranking was built (no fake “search volume”)
Public keyword tools do not publish reliable Ghana USSD volumes. This list is a usage ranking, not a purchased Ahrefs screenshot. Three signals, in order:
- Daily job frequency. Wallet transfers happen many times a day. Prepaid electricity is weekly for most households. Water is monthly. Bank USSD is less frequent but high-intent when it happens.
- Search phrasing we see on Ghana bill and telco pages. “MTN MoMo code”, “ECG shortcode”, “Vodafone Cash code” / “Telecel *110#”, “Ghana Water shortcode”, “GCB USSD” are the queries that keep returning — not “Zenith *966#”.
- Company scale. MTN still holds the largest MoMo float. ECG is the southern grid. Telecel and AT together are the rest of prepaid Ghana. GWL bills almost every piped household. GCB is the largest indigenous retail bank by branch and account footprint.
*124# (airtime balance) would rank near the top on raw dials, but it is an NCA-harmonised code, not a company product. Same for 100 (care), 112 / 191 / 192 / 193 (emergency). Those are in the honourable-mentions table below.
Rank 1 — MTN *170# (Mobile Money)
If you remember one code in Ghana, make it *170#. It is MTN’s wallet, not airtime. Use it to send to a number, send to a bank, cash out at an agent, pay a merchant, and open the bill-pay tree. Wallet balance lives here. Airtime balance is *124#. Data is *138#. Mixing those three is the most common MTN support ticket that is not actually a fault.
Full menu, PIN rules, and fraud notes: MTN *170# MoMo guide.
Rank 2 — ECG *226# (electricity)
ECG’s official USSD is *226#. Prepaid customers buy a token (usually a 20-digit STS string) for the meter number on the meter face. Postpaid customers pay the account on the paper or SMS bill — that number is not the meter serial. PowerApp OTP retrieval is a different code: *713*414#. Do not pay twice because the first SMS is slow; check MoMo history first.
Meter vs account, token entry, and the *170# detour: ECG *226# official guide.
Rank 3 — Telecel & AT *110# (two companies, one code)
Telecel Cash and AT Money both use *110#. That is not a numbering clash. The HLR of the SIM you dial from decides which wallet menu opens. A Telecel line never opens AT Money on *110#, and the reverse is true. MTN is the odd one out with *170#. People who ported numbers still dial the code of the network they sit on today, not the old prefix.
Wallet vs airtime vs data on both networks: Telecel & AT *110# guide.
Rank 4 — Ghana Water *1010#
Ghana Water Ltd publishes *1010# as the official check-and-pay shortcode and has stated there is no extra charge on that path. Typical live menu: pay (often option 1) and check bill (often option 2). You need the customer / account ID on the GWCL bill (commonly 12 digits) — not the iron meter serial on the wall. Legacy blogs still push *790#; treat that as third-party or retired, not GWL’s current front door.
Ashanti Region communications have also reminded customers that unpaid accounts can be disconnected during month-end revenue mobilisation (from about the 20th). Reconnection after settling arrears plus any penalty is typically 24–48 hours, not instant. Details and other company codes: GCB, Ghana Water and bank USSD codes.
Rank 5 — GCB *422# (biggest bank USSD)
GCB Bank’s mobile banking USSD is *422#, dialled from the mobile number registered on the account. Official service list: balance, last-five mini statement, PIN change, airtime (self or other), bill pay (including DSTV/GoTV), GCB-to-GCB transfer, bank–MoMo, and school Fee Pay. Toll-free: 0800 422 422. This is not CBG’s *924# and not Ecobank Ghana’s *770#.
Cheat sheet — official vs aggregator
| Job | Company code | When Ewale *714*22# is the better first dial |
|---|---|---|
| Send MoMo to a person | *170# or *110# | Never — that is a wallet transfer, not a bill vend |
| Buy ECG token / pay ECG bill | *226# | You are paying from another network’s wallet, or you also need water/TV in the same sitting |
| Pay Ghana Water | *1010# | Same as ECG — mixed utilities, or the GWL menu is not live on your SIM |
| Renew DSTV / GoTV | Decoder app or MoMo bill-pay trees | You want IUC + bouquet in one USSD flow |
| Buy MTN / Telecel / AT data for someone else | *138# / *700# / *111# on the destination SIM | Payer wallet and recipient network do not match |
| GCB account balance | *422# | Not an Ewale job |
Honourable mentions (high dial, different category)
| Code | Owner | Why it missed the top five |
|---|---|---|
*124# |
NCA (all networks) | Airtime balance — harmonised, not a company product |
*138# |
MTN | Data menu; huge on MTN SIMs, invisible elsewhere |
*700# / *126# |
Telecel | Buy data / check GB — network-locked |
*111# / *504# |
AT | Same pattern as Telecel |
*929# |
NHIA / NHIS | Membership renewal — seasonal spikes, not daily |
*714*22# |
Ewale | Aggregator: bills + airtime + data + checkers. Ranked here as the one-code backup, not a telco wallet |
| 100 | Your network | Customer care — NCA-harmonised |
| 112 / 191 / 192 / 193 | State emergency | SOS, Police, Fire, Ambulance |
How to tell an official company code from a lookalike
- Source. MTN, ECG, GWL, GCB, Telecel, AT, NHIA, and NCA publish codes on their sites, apps, or SMS. A WhatsApp flyer is not a source.
- You enter the PIN on your phone. Nobody “helps” by taking the handset into another room.
- Destination name on the MoMo prompt should match the company (or a known aggregator such as Ewale), not a personal name.
- NCA SIM-fraud line is 419. Registration check is
*400#.
FAQ — top Ghana shortcodes
What is the most used USSD code in Ghana?
*170# for MTN Mobile Money. It is the default wallet for the largest subscriber base and the code people search as “MoMo code” even when they are not on MTN (the MTN-specific answer is still *170#; Telecel/AT is *110#).
What is the ECG shortcode?
Official: *226#. Aggregator for mixed bills: *714*22#. MoMo detour: *170# or *110# bill-pay trees.
Is *110# Vodafone Cash or Telecel Cash?
Same network, new brand. Telecel Ghana (formerly Vodafone) still uses *110# for the wallet. AT Money uses the same digits on an AT SIM.
What is the Ghana Water shortcode?
Official GWL: *1010#. Ewale: *714*22# → Utilities → Ghana Water. Do not treat *790# as current GWL policy.
What is GCB’s USSD?
*422# on the registered number. Other banks have their own codes — see the bank table.