The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has authorized telecommunications companies to disconnect nine Nigerian banks from using assigned Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes due to unpaid invoices.
This announcement was made on Tuesday in a statement signed by the Commission’s spokesperson, Ruben Muoka. The disconnection is set to take effect on January 27, 2025.
The affected banks are:
Fidelity Bank Plc
First City Monument Bank (FCMB)
Jaiz Bank Plc
Polaris Bank Limited
Sterling Bank Limited
United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA)
Unity Bank Plc
Wema Bank Plc
Zenith Bank Plc
The USSD codes to be affected include 770, 919, 822, and others.
According to the NCC, these banks failed to comply with the directives outlined in the Second Joint Circular issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC on December 20, 2024. The circular mandated the settlement of outstanding invoices owed to mobile network operators (MNOs), some dating back to 2020.
“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 stated.
This development stems from long-standing disputes between MNOs and financial institutions over unpaid USSD charges totaling ₦200 billion.
The disconnection poses a significant challenge to Nigeria’s financial inclusion efforts. Data from the CBN shows that between January and June 2024, 252.06 million USSD transactions worth ₦2.19 trillion were conducted. This marks notable growth compared to 2023, when 630.6 million transactions valued at ₦4.84 trillion were completed via USSD.
