UBA, Zenith, 7 other banks rush to settle USSD debts ahead of January 27 disconnection deadline

Some banks have already started paying off part of their debt, while others who hadn’t made any moves before are now seeking to negotiate despite previously resisting the sanctions.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) listed the defaulting banks to include Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Wema Bank and Sterling Bank.

Others are Unity Bank, Jaiz Bank, Polaris Bank, Fidelity Bank Plc and First City Monument Bank.

USSD dispute between banks, Telcos

USSD codes, originally created by telecom companies for airtime and subscription services, have become an important tool for promoting financial inclusion in Nigeria.

This technology enables users to perform banking transactions directly from their mobile phones through SMS without internet access, making it especially useful in rural areas with poor or unreliable internet.

Since 2019, banks and telecom operators have been in conflict over unpaid USSD fees collected by the banks, which at a time rose to about N250 million.

This financial dispute threatened the future of the service, prompting the NCC to step in, threatening to blacklist defaulting banks from the service.

Telecom operators have criticized the regulator for delaying action, which led to the debt growing to around N160 billion until late last year when some banks began to make payments.

Potential loss of revenue, customer base

In addition to the risk of being disconnected from the networks, the NCC announced last week that it would take back the shortcodes given to the nine banks after January 27.

Speaking anonymously, a senior official from one of the telecom companies said these penalties, which could significantly affect the banks’ income and customer numbers, have pushed them to address the problem.

The source told Daily Trust:

“Some of them have started paying in bits because they know this could impact their revenue. Those who have refused to listen to us before are now calling for negotiation.”

The source explained that the banks could have addressed this issue much earlier but didn’t take it seriously because the regulator didn’t take official action.

NCC approves 50% hike in tariff for Telcos

In a related development, Legit.ng reported that the NCC has approved a 50% increase in tariffs for telecom companies in Nigeria.

The commission stated that the decision came after thorough discussions with key stakeholders from both the public and private sectors.

It explained that the adjustment aims to close the gap between rising operational costs and current tariffs while ensuring that service delivery to consumers remains unaffected.