Have The Regulators Greenlighted  Announcement By Nigerian Banks On New Modality For USSD Service Charges?

By Clifford Agugoesi, Editor-in-Chief

Barring any last-minute intervention from regulators of both the telecommunications sector, the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC), and the banking sector regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), major financial institutions, including but not limited to United Bank for Africa(UBA) Plc, First City Monument Bank(FCMB) Plc and Stanbic-IBTC Bank have concluded arrangements to charge telecommunications subscribers directly  from their airtime for the cost of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data(USSD) services.

Nigerian banks may have started informing their customers about the new instructions on how USSD transactions will be charged, resting their new move  on an ostensible order from the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC), for banks to charge customers using airtime, but some critical stakeholders are taken aback by the so-called development within the banking sector, saying it cannot hold water, until regulators of the telecoms and banking sectors agreed and communicated same to the public.

An angry customer to one of the telecommunications service providers, who spoke to our reporter in Festac Town, Lagos, under condition of anonymity, wondered why the banks would be the ones to take the lead in informing customers on how to collect USSD charges when they had been the ones perennially indebted to the telcos.

It will be recalled that telcos and Nigerian banks, have, for years, been at each and one another’s throat over a humongous USSD debt, estimated at N250 billion.

Access Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Ecobank, and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), among others, have begun notifying customers of a major change in how USSD banking transactions will be billed.

In separate messages to customers, the banks confirmed that starting  Tuesday, USSD session fees will now be charged directly from customers’ airtime as opposed to their bank accounts. UBA, in a notice sent to customers on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, said: “In line with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), please be informed that effective June 3, 2025, charges for USSD banking services will no longer be deducted from your bank account. “Going forward, these charges will be deducted directly from your mobile airtime balance in accordance with the NCC’s End-User Billing (EUB) model.”

UBA explained that, under the new billing system, each USSD session would incur a charge of N6.98 for every 120 seconds, billed directly by the customer’s mobile network operator. The bank stated: “You will receive a consent prompt at the start of each session, and airtime will only be deducted upon your confirmation and availability of the bank to fulfill this service. “If you do not wish to continue using USSD banking under this new model, you may choose to discontinue use of the USSD channel.”

Ecobank also sent out a similar message: “We are writing to inform you about an important change to the USSD banking charges. “In line with the directive of  the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), please be informed that effective June 3, 2025, the N6.98 session charge for USSD banking services, will no longer be deducted from your bank account. “Instead, your mobile network provider will deduct it from your airtime balance under the End-User Billing model.”

Also, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) announced this change in an email message to customers.  The bank stated: “Each USSD session will cost N6.98 per 120 seconds, charged by your mobile network. You will be asked to approve the charge before it’s deducted from your airtime. “If you prefer, you can use other banking channels like ATMs, mobile apps, or Internet banking.”

This controversial directive appears to be part of ongoing efforts by the NCC to resolve the longstanding USSD payment dispute between mobile network operators and commercial banks.  However, an aggrieved banker recently sacked by her employers, who spoke to our reporter anonymously, stated she was bleeding from both ends, having lost her job but must be in constant communication to get another job.  Hear her:  “I wonder what this government wants to do with Nigerians.  Prices of goods and services are going up everyday and there are no visible signs they would come down any time soon.” She took a swipe at the telecoms regulator saying it does not have the powers to unilaterally conclude this long lingering matter when the banking sector regulator is equally involved. “Is the NCC saying it has overruled the CBN?  We wait and see how this goes,” she concluded.  In December 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NCC jointly urged telcos and banks to settle the accumulated USSD debt, which had reached N250 billion.

The dispute escalated earlier this year when mobile network operators threatened to withdraw USSD services due to unpaid fees. Responding, the NCC warned of suspending USSD services and published a list of banks with outstanding debts. On January 15, 2025, the regulator ordered the disconnection of USSD codes assigned to nine banks by January 27 over unpaid debts.

By late February, MTN Nigeria announced it had received N32 billion out of the N72 billion owed by banks as partial payment of the USSD debt.

The NCC’s new directive to charge USSD fees directly from airtime, if it sails through, as there are mounting signs, it may not,  is expected to streamline payment processes and reduce future disputes between banks and telcos.

Speaking Tuesday night  and Wednesday morning with our reporters, President, National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers(NATCOMS), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo wondered why the Commission would pass the bill to the consumers saying it would amount to double punishment, against the background of the recent approval to telcos to increase their tariff by 50 per cent, although NATCOMS wanted it at 35 per cent.

Chief Ogunbanjo’s consternation is coming from the fact that the alleged NCC instruction to the banks was not made public.  According to the NATCOMS President, efforts to confirm the veracity or otherwise of the order made to the Acting Head of Public Affairs, at NCC, Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha, did not succeed.  Pointing out that telecommunications quality of service has not seen any appreciable improvement, Ogunbanjo wondered why subscribers should be subjected to another headache of paying with their airtime.

He said: “NCC is supposed to be an impartial arbiter. It should not allow this to happen. We trust that the Commission will not allow this to happen.”  But, what if it does, we asked him?  “Our position is that the Nigerian Communications Commission is an independent regulator that is highly consultative.  We do not think that the Commission will allow anything that will further inflict pains on already suffering subscribers.  We appeal to the Commission to rescind this order as it is not in the interest of subscribers.

If the Commission fails to listen to us, we shall seek to obtain just justice through the legal system, ” he warned. -With additional reporting by Kingsley I. Ilechukwu, Bureau Chief, South West, Nigeria.