NCC approves Telcos’ request to suspend USSD services for nine banks.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has granted approval to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to disconnect Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes assigned by the commission to nine financial institutions.

The NCC said this in a public notice by Reuben Muoka, the director of public affairs of the commission, on Wednesday.

According to the commission, the financial institutions and impacted USSD codes are Fidelity Bank (770), First City Monument Bank (329), Jaiz Bank (773), Polaris Bank Limited (833), Sterling Bank Limited (832), United Bank for Africa (919), Unity Bank (7799), Wema Bank (945), and Zenith Bank (966).

On Tuesday, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the NCC is set to name 18 banks that have failed to settle over N200 billion in debt owed to telecom operators for the use of USSD.

NCC said Wednesday that of the 18 defaulting banks, nine institutions have failed to comply significantly with the directives in the second joint circular CBN and the commission dated 20 December 2024 for the settlement of outstanding invoices due to MNOS, some since 2020.

The USSD debt has been accumulating since 2018, and despite a joint directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC, only four banks have complied with the payment requirements, sources told this newspaper on Monday.

The directive required banks to settle 60 per cent of outstanding pre-API (Application Programming Interfaces) invoices by January 2025, with payment plans to be negotiated between banks and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). However, despite this deadline, several banks have failed to meet their payment obligations.

On Wednesday, the commission said consumers may be unable to access the USSD platform of the affected financial institutions from 27 January.

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“Nigerian Communications Commission hereby notifies members of the public that it is grunting approval to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to disconnect Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) Codes assigned by the Commission to financial institutions which are indebted to the MNOs if such institutions do not settle the outstanding invoices by Monday, January 27, 2025,” the statement said.

The commission said it 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 27 January 2025.

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“By the information made available to the commission at close of business on Tuesday, 14th January 2025, of a total of 18 financial institutions, the 9 institutions listed below have failed to comply significantly with the directives in the second joint circular CBN and the commission dated 20 December 2024 for the settlement of outstanding invoices due to MNOS, some since 2020,” the commission said.

The NCC explained that the financial institutions’ 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.

“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,” it said.