Unpaid debts: Telcos may cut banks’ USSD access today
Mobile Network Operators, including MTN and Airtel, will stop providing dedicated text message services to banks unless the lenders settle their outstanding debts to the telcos by the close of business today.
The disconnection of the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data service, which impacts mobile banking services used by millions of Nigerians, follows an order from the Nigerian Communications Commission—telecom regulator, issued on January 15, 2025.
Under the directive, nine banks were warned to clear their debts by January 27, 2025, or risk losing access to their USSD codes, a vital service enabling customers to conduct banking transactions without internet access.
While some banks have made payments in line with directives from the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria, operators say a few remain non-compliant.
The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, spoke with our correspondent on Sunday.
“A number of them are complying in line with the regulatory intervention made by the CBN and NCC.
“We still have a few hard debtors who haven’t complied, but when the time comes, according to the protocol of that circular, we are going to disconnect,” Adebayo said.
The President of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria, Tony Emoekpere, in a conversation with our correspondent on Monday, did not provide specifics on the matter.
However, he stated, “There were about nine indebted banks, but I don’t have the details now on how many of them have settled. We would have to wait and get updates from the operators.”
In a memo dated December 20, the banking regulator and the NCC set a deadline of December 31, 2024, for banks to settle 85 per cent of their outstanding invoices dating back to February 2022.
These lenders faulted regulatory directives, prompting the NCC to release the names of the nine indebted banks.
Data from the CBN shows that 252.06 million USSD transactions, valued at N2.19 trillion, were completed between January and June 2024.
This marks a notable shift compared to the previous year when 630.6 million transactions worth N4.84 trillion were conducted via USSD.
Originally developed by telecom operators for services such as airtime purchases and subscriptions, USSD has evolved into a vital financial tool, providing banking services to users without the need for an internet connection.
