The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has authorised Mobile Network Operators – MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile to disconnect Zenith Bank, UBA and other commercial banks’ Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes from their networks from January 27.
The telecom operators have been complaining for years about the banks’ failure to pay them for the USSD service, which they nonetheless charge their customers.
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The affected banks
The banks that would be disconnected include First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank, Jaiz Bank, UBA, Polaris Bank, Unity Bank, Fidelity Bank, and Wema Bank, the NCC announced in a notice on Wednesday.
The disconnection will prevent millions of Nigerians from accessing USSD to perform transactions. There is a two-week grace period for banks to pay their telecom obligations; if they don’t, their codes will be disconnected and can be reassigned.
“The Commission will thereafter recover such Codes and may reassign them to other applicants in accordance with the applicable instruments.
“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 Commission said in the notice signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.
Non-compliance of CBN-NCC’s December 20, 2024 joint directives
According to the telecom regulator, as of Tuesday, January 14, 2025, out of a total of 18 financial institutions, only the nine institutions aforementioned had yet to comply with the CBN-NCC directive dated December 20, 2024, for the settlement of outstanding invoices owed to MNOs, some of which date back to 2020.
The financial institutions’ non-compliance 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 that the Commission has assigned to them.
“The financial institutions have been duly notified of the need for immediate compliance in accordance with the Commission’s Guidelines on Short Code Operation in Nigeria, 2023,” the NCC added.
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The December 2024 CBN-NCC’s joint directive
The CBN and NCC released a circular in December 2024 ordering banks to pay their USSD debt. The circular required banks to agree to payment plans and reimburse a portion of unpaid invoices.
Additionally, it ordered banks to halt lawsuits pertaining to the debt. Due to the outstanding debt, which was estimated to be N120 billion as of 2023, the mobile network carriers have threatened to cut off the banks for years.
The telcos held off on disconnecting the banks because that action required NCC approval until last year when the NCC and CBN reached a joint decision that paved the way for Monday’s disconnection order.