NCC Orders Telcos to Disconnect Nine Banks from USSD Platform

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has authorized Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to disconnect Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes assigned to nine financial institutions.

This was disclosed in a public notice issued on Wednesday by the commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed the financial institutions affected by the disconnection of their Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes.

According to the commission, the financial institutions and impacted USSD codes are : Fidelity Bank (770), United Bank for Africa (919), Unity Bank (7799), First City Monument Bank (329), Jaiz Bank (773), Polaris Bank Limited (833), Sterling Bank Limited (832), Wema Bank (945), and Zenith Bank (966).

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) announced on Wednesday that nine out of 18 defaulting banks have failed to significantly comply with the directives outlined in the second joint circular issued by the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on December 20, 2024. The circular was aimed at resolving outstanding invoices owed to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), with some debts dating back to 2020.

USSD debt has been accumulating since 2018, and despite the joint directive, only four banks have met the payment requirements, sources revealed on Monday.

The directive mandated banks to settle 60% of their outstanding pre-API (Application Programming Interfaces) invoices by January 2025 and negotiate payment plans with MNOs. However, several banks have failed to fulfill these obligations by the stipulated deadline.

The NCC warned that, starting January 27, consumers may lose access to the USSD platforms of the affected financial institutions due to their continued non-compliance.

“Nigerian Communications Commission hereby notifies members of the public that it is grunting approval to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to disconnect Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) Codes assigned by the Commission to financial institutions which are indebted to the MNOs if such institutions do not settle the outstanding invoices by Monday, January 27, 2025,” the statement said.

The commission stated that it would subsequently reclaim the affected USSD codes and may reallocate them to other applicants in line with the relevant regulatory provisions.

“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 27 January 2025.

“By the information made available to the commission at close of business on Tuesday, 14th January 2025, of a total of 18 financial institutions, the 9 institutions listed below have failed to comply significantly with the directives in the second joint circular CBN and the commission dated 20 December 2024 for the settlement of outstanding invoices due to MNOS, some since 2020,” the commission said.

The NCC clarified that the financial institutions’ non-compliance with the CBN-NCC joint circular also renders them ineligible to meet the good standing criteria required for the renewal of their assigned USSD codes.