Transactions performed by way of Unstructured Supplementary Service Knowledge (USSD) codes in Nigeria recorded 252.06 million transactions valued at N2.19 trillion within the first half of 2024, in accordance with the Central Financial institution of Nigeria’s (CBN) newest digital cost statistics.
This determine represents 45.3% of the overall transaction worth of N4.84 trillion recorded in your entire 2023, in addition to 40% of the overall transaction quantity for a similar interval.
USSD codes, designed by telecom corporations for airtime and subscription providers, have develop into a cornerstone of Nigeria’s monetary inclusion technique.
The know-how permits customers to carry out banking transactions with out an web connection, providing a lifeline to rural communities the place web entry is restricted or unreliable.
Regardless of its significance, USSD transactions face a longstanding menace from a N250 billion debt that has remained unresolved for over six years.
Deposit Cash Banks and the telecoms operators have been at loggerheads since 2019, over the non-remittance of USSD charges charged by banks.
As of 2019, telcos stated the amassed USSD debt was N32 billion. The determine continued to build up to succeed in N42 billion as of March 2021 and N80 billion as at November 2022, till it rose to succeed in N120 billion in June 2023 and over N200 billion in October 2024.
In Might 2023, the NCC granted telcos within the nation — MTN, Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile — the approval to disconnect banks from utilizing USSDs.
This monetary dispute between telecom operators and banks has hindered the sustainability of the service.
Previous efforts to handle the difficulty, together with interventions led by former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele and former Minister of Communications Isa Pantami, have didn’t yield a long-lasting answer.
