By Our Reporter
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed telecommunications companies to disconnect the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes of nine banks due to unpaid debts. The move follows a backlog of overdue payments by the affected financial institutions.
In a directive signed by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, on Tuesday, the commission warned that the banks must settle their outstanding debts by January 27, 2025, or risk losing access to their USSD services. The total amount owed by the nine banks has not been disclosed.
The notice stated that of the 18 financial institutions involved, nine had failed to meet regulatory obligations. While some banks have cleared their debts, the cumulative arrears originally exceeded N200 billion. Some invoices have reportedly remained unpaid since 2020.
The NCC’s public statement detailed that as of January 14, 2025, the nine non-compliant institutions were still in default despite repeated notifications. The banks in question include Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank, Jaiz Bank Plc, Polaris Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.
USSD codes like 770, 919, and 822, assigned to these banks, could be reassigned to other entities if the debts are not settled. The regulator also emphasized that the failure of these banks to comply with the December 2024 joint circular from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC has prevented them from fulfilling the requirements for renewing their USSD codes.
To protect consumers, the NCC cautioned that from January 27, 2025, users may be unable to access the USSD services of the affected banks. The commission has previously notified these banks of the urgency for compliance and warned that service disruptions could occur if the debts remain unpaid.
Recent data from the CBN shows that between January and June 2024, USSD transactions totaled 252.06 million, valued at N2.19 trillion.