Unpaid Debts: Telcos May Cut Banks’ USSD Access Today
Telecommunications operators, including MTN and Airtel, have announced plans to disconnect banks from Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services by the end of today if outstanding debts are not cleared.
The impending disconnection, which will affect millions of Nigerians reliant on mobile banking services, comes after a directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued on January 15, 2025. The commission instructed nine indebted banks to settle their debts by January 27, 2025, or face losing access to the USSD platform—a critical service enabling financial transactions without internet access.
While some banks have reportedly made partial payments following the directive from both the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), others remain in default.
Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), confirmed on Sunday that compliance has been mixed. “A number of them are complying in line with the regulatory intervention made by the CBN and NCC,” Adebayo said. “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.”
The President of the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Tony Emoekpere, also weighed in, stating on Monday that while some banks have settled their debts, the specific number remains unclear. “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,” he said.
This standoff follows a December 20 memo from the NCC and the CBN, which set a December 31, 2024, deadline for banks to pay 85% of their outstanding invoices dating back to February 2022. The failure of some banks to meet this deadline led to the release of their names by the NCC earlier this year.
USSD services, originally designed by telecom operators for basic functionalities such as airtime purchases, have since evolved into a critical tool for financial transactions. The service has enabled banking access for millions of Nigerians without internet connectivity.
Data from the CBN shows that between January and June 2024, 252.06 million USSD transactions worth N2.19 trillion were completed, highlighting the platform’s importance. However, this figure represents a significant decline from the 630.6 million transactions valued at N4.84 trillion recorded in the same period in 2023, underscoring the impact of ongoing disputes between telcos and banks over payment terms.
As the deadline looms, Nigerians are bracing for potential disruptions to mobile banking services if the issue remains unresolved.
