January 15, 2025
The Nigerian Communications Commission has authorised telecommunications companies to disconnect the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes assigned to nine financial institutions over outstanding debt.
This is contained in a directive signed by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.
According to him, the affected banks are to pay the outstanding debts by January 27, 2025, or risk losing access to their USSD codes.
The regulator did not, however, state the amount of the debt owed by the nine banks.
The .notice states further that nine out of 18 financial institutions had not complied with regulatory directives.
It said while other banks have cleared their debts, the total amount initially owed by the financial institutions was reported to exceed N200 billion.
According to the NCC, some of the invoices have remained unpaid since 2020.
“By the information made available to the commission as at close of business on Tuesday, 14th January 2025, of a total of 18 financial institutions, the nine institutions listed below have failed to comply significantly with the directives in the Second Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the commission dated December 20, 2024, for the settlement of outstanding invoices due to MNOS, some since 2020.”
The affected financial institutions include Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank, Jaiz Bank Plc, Polaris Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.
The regulator noted that banks’ 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.
It added, “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 NCC emphasised that the financial institutions had been duly notified of the need for immediate compliance and warned that consumers may face service disruptions if the issues remain unresolved.
