JUST IN: Customers Of 9 Banks May Not Get Alert, Others From Jan. 27

Barring any changes, customers of nine banks in Nigeria may not be able to re­ceive alerts and perform banking trans­actions using their mobile phones from January 27, 2025, as telecommunications operators have been authorised to discon­nect the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes assigned to the financial institutions due to N200 billion debt....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤

This directive was given by the Nigeri­an Communications Commission (NCC) in a public notice on Wednesday, signed by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka. ­

The NCC said affected banks must settle their outstanding ob­ligations by January 27, 2025, or risk losing access to their USSD codes.

These codes, essential for en­abling mobile banking services, could be reassigned to other ap­plicants if the debts remain un­resolved.

Originally designed by tele­com operators for services like airtime purchases and subscrip­tions, USSD has become a key tool in the banking sector, offering fi­nancial services to users without requiring an Internet connection.

The commission revealed that, as of Tuesday’s (January 14, 2025) close of business, nine out of 18 financial institutions had not complied with regulato­ry directives.

While other banks have cleared their debts, the total amount initially owed by the fi­nancial institutions was reported to exceed N200 billion.

However, the regulator did not disclose the precise debt currently owed by the affected banks.

According to the NCC, some of the unpaid invoices have remained unpaid since 2020, in­dicating a prolonged financial dispute between the banks and telecom operators.

Part of the notice reads, “By the information made available to the commission as at close of business on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, of a total of 18 financial institutions, the nine institutions listed below have failed to comply significantly with the directives in the second joint circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the commission dated December 20, 2024, for the settlement of out­standing invoices due to MNOS, some since 2020.”

The regulator noted that banks’ failure to comply with the CBN-NCC joint circular also means that they are unable to meet the good standing require­ments for the renewal of the USSD codes assigned to them by the commission.

It added, “In fulfilment of its consumer protection mandate, the commission wishes to in­form consumers that they may be unable to access the USSD platform of the affected finan­cial institutions from January 27, 2025.”

The affected financial institu­tions include Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank, Jaiz Bank Plc, Polaris Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.

The affected USSD codes in­clude 770, 919, 822, 329, 773, 833, 7799, 945 and 966.

The NCC emphasised that the financial institutions had been duly notified of the need for im­mediate compliance and warned that consumers may face service disruptions if the issues remain unresolved.

This development highlighted ongoing tensions between tele­communications companies and financial institutions over unpaid USSD-related debts, a challenge that has persisted for years.

Earlier in the week, NCC had promised to issue a notice with the names of the erring banks, preparing bank customers to seek alternatives during the sus­pension period.

USSD is a crucial payment gateway for many Nigerians.

During the 20th anniversary of the telecoms sector in 2021, the then Group Managing Di­rector of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, said, “The introduction of USSD changed everything. Without telecoms infrastructure, there is no USSD code.”

The value of USSD transac­tions between January and June 2024 was N2.19 trillion. However, this is a 54.75 percent decline from N4.84 trillion in the same period of 2023, with more Nigerians increasingly favouring internet transfers.

In a December 20 memo, the CBN and NCC gave banks a De­cember 31, 2024, deadline to pay 85 percent of all outstanding invoices (from February 2022)- a mandate that has been ignored by many of the banks. ...CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤