By Tonia Okereke
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Wednesday approved the disconnection of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes assigned to nine financial institutions by telecom providers due to unpaid debts.
This directive was issued in a public notice signed by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Reuben Muoka.
The NCC said affected banks must settle their outstanding obligations by January 27, 2025, or risk losing access to their USSD codes.
These codes, essential for enabling mobile banking services, could be reassigned to other applicants if the debts remain unresolved.
The notice read in part: “By the information made available to the commission as at close of business on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, of a total of 18 financial institutions, the nine institutions listed below have failed to comply significantly with the directives in the Second Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the commission dated December 20, 2024, for the settlement of outstanding invoices due to MNOS, some since 2020.”
The NCC observed that ’ failure to comply with the CBN-NCC joint circular also means that they are unable to meet the good standing requirements for the renewal of the USSD codes assigned to them by the commission.
It added, “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 affected financial institutions include First City Monument Bank, Jaiz Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Polaris Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.
The affected USSD codes include 770, 919, 822, 329, 773, 833, 7799, 945 and 966.
The NCC stated that the financial institutions had been duly notified of the need for immediate compliance and warned that consumers may face service disruptions if the issues remain unresolved.
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