Nine commercial banks facing the imminent disconnection of their Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services are now scrambling to settle their debts with telecom operators before the January 27th deadline.
The nine banks facing these sanctions are: Fidelity Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Jaiz Bank, Polaris Bank, Sterling Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Unity Bank, Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank
A check within the telecom ecosystem indicates that some banks have begun making partial payments, while others are now seeking negotiations. This shift comes amid concerns that the disconnection could significantly impact their revenue and customer base.
Telecom operators have criticized the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for its delayed action, which allowed the debt to accumulate to an estimated N160 billion.
The NCC had last week in a statement warned that, in addition to service disconnection, it will withdraw the shortcodes allocated to the affected banks after the January 27th deadline. This move, coupled with the potential loss of USSD services, could severely impact the banks’ revenue and customer retention.
USSD banking is an SMS-based mobile banking service that allows customers to access various financial services, including transfers, bill payments, and airtime recharges, directly from their mobile phones. Millions of Nigerians rely on this service daily.