Telecommunications operators have been authorised to disconnect the Unstructured Supplementary Service Information (USSD) codes assigned to 9 monetary establishments on account of unpaid money owed.
This directive was given by the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC) in a public discover, Wednesday, signed by the Fee’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.
The NCC mentioned affected banks should settle their excellent obligations by January 27, 2025, or threat shedding entry to their USSD codes.
These codes, important for enabling cellular banking providers, could possibly be reassigned to different candidates if the money owed stay unresolved.
Initially designed by telecom operators for providers like airtime purchases and subscriptions, USSD has develop into a key instrument within the banking sector, providing monetary providers to customers with out requiring an Web connection.
The fee revealed that, as of Tuesday’s (January 14, 2025) shut of enterprise, 9 out of 18 monetary establishments had not complied with regulatory directives.
Whereas different banks have cleared their money owed, the overall quantity initially owed by the monetary establishments was reported to exceed N200 billion.
Nevertheless, the regulator didn’t disclose the exact debt at present owed by the affected banks.
In response to the NCC, a few of the unpaid invoices have remained unpaid since 2020, indicating a protracted monetary dispute between the banks and telecom operators.
A part of the discover learn, “By the data made accessible to the fee as at shut of enterprise on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, of a complete of 18 monetary establishments, the 9 establishments listed beneath have did not comply considerably with the directives within the Second Joint Round of the Central Financial institution of Nigeria and the fee dated December 20, 2024, for the settlement of excellent invoices on account of MNOS, some since 2020.”
The regulator famous that banks’ failure to adjust to the CBN-NCC joint round additionally implies that they’re unable to fulfill the great standing necessities for the renewal of the USSD codes assigned to them by the fee.
It added, “In fulfilment of its client safety mandate, the fee needs to tell shoppers that they might be unable to entry the USSD platform of the affected monetary establishments from January 27, 2025.”
The affected monetary establishments embrace Constancy Financial institution Plc, First Metropolis Monument Financial institution, Jaiz Financial institution Plc, Polaris Financial institution Restricted, Sterling Financial institution Restricted, United Financial institution for Africa Plc, Unity Financial institution Plc, Wema Financial institution Plc, and Zenith Financial institution Plc.
The affected USSD codes embrace 770, 919, 822, 329, 773, 833, 7799, 945 and 966.
The NCC emphasised that the monetary establishments had been duly notified of the necessity for instant compliance and warned that buyers might face service disruptions if the problems stay unresolved.
This growth highlighted ongoing tensions between telecommunications corporations and monetary establishments over unpaid USSD-related money owed, a problem that has persevered for years.
