June 04, (THEWILL) – Telecommunications operators in Nigeria, including MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile, have threatened to withdraw network support for banks’ Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services, accusing the banks of misleading customers over the billing process and failing to settle outstanding debts.
USSD is a widely used platform that enables mobile banking transactions via short codes dialled on mobile phones.
Some commercial banks on Tuesday notified customers that, in line with a supposed directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), charges for USSD transactions would henceforth be deducted from users’ airtime rather than from their bank accounts.
A typical bank notice read:
“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.”
It added that each USSD session would cost ₦6.98 per 120 seconds and would only be deducted upon users’ consent and successful processing of the transaction.
However, the telecom operators, under the umbrella of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), rejected the claims, accusing the banks of distorting facts for their own advantage.
ALTON Chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, said the billing model was never a unilateral directive from the NCC but the outcome of a joint regulatory agreement between the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with both banks and telcos as witnesses.
“The agreement was that if the banks cleared all outstanding USSD debts owed to the telcos by June 2, 2025, they could migrate to the end-user billing method—provided the process was transparent and jointly agreed upon,” Adebayo said.
He noted that the clause was introduced to avoid double billing, where users might be charged from both their airtime and bank accounts.
“As we speak, while some banks have settled their debts, the majority have not. Therefore, regardless of whatever migration modalities are in place, implementation cannot commence until these debts are cleared,” he said.
Adebayo warned that if the banks continue to disregard the terms of the agreement, telecom operators may pull the plug on USSD support.
“Our position is clear—if this is how the banks intend to handle the agreement, we may withdraw support for their USSD services. It’s not a mandatory offering. They can choose to do without it, but they must clear their debts as agreed,” he added.
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