The Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services of the some banks in Nigeria may stop functioning soon, per an instruction from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
You would recall that the lingering issue of debt owed mobile network operators otherwise known as telcos by banks in Nigeria has remained unresolved for a long time.
ENigeria Newspaper reports that only days back, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) gave the mobile network operators the green light to disconnect nine commercial banks from their networks due to the unresolved outstanding debts related to (USSD) services.
Below are the affected banks are:
First City Monument Bank (FCMB)
Zenith Bank
Sterling Bank
Jaiz Bank
UBA
Polaris Bank
Unity Bank
Fidelity Bank
These banks have been given a two-week ultimatum to settle their debts with the telcos, and if they fail to comply, their USSD codes will be disconnected, affecting millions of bank customers who rely on USSD for transactions.
The NCC’s decision follows years of complaints from telecom operators about the non-payment of debt owed by the banks for USSD services. The debt, which was estimated to be around N120 billion as of 2025, has been a point of contention between the telecom operators and the banks
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