Several Nigerian banks faced a critical deadline on January 27th: settle a significant debt owed to telecommunications companies for the use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services, or risk losing access to this crucial payment channel.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued a strong warning, threatening to disconnect USSD services for nine banks that had failed to pay an estimated N160 billion in outstanding fees. This debt has been a point of contention between banks and telcos since 2019.
While the NCC maintained a firm stance, it appears that several banks managed to meet the deadline. A source within the NCC confirmed that some payments had been made, although the exact number of banks that complied remains unclear.
The USSD service is a vital lifeline for many Nigerians, enabling them to access banking services like checking balances, transferring funds, and making payments using their mobile phones. A disruption to this service would have severe consequences for millions of people.
This dispute highlights the ongoing tension between banks and telcos over the costs associated with providing mobile banking services. The CBN and NCC have been working to resolve this issue, but the full impact of the recent deadline and the subsequent payments remains to be seen.
