January 15, 2025 
The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has granted Mobile Network Operators comprising MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile the approval to disconnect the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, USSD, codes of nine commercial banks from their networks.
According to the NCC notice issued on Wednesday, the banks to be disconnected include First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank, Jaiz Bank, UBA, Polaris Bank, Unity Bank, Fidelity Bank, and Wema Bank.
The approval is coming at the back drop of years of complaints by the telecom operators, whereas the banks have continued to charge their customers, they have reneged on payment for the USSD service used.
If the Mobile Network Operators implement the disconnection, millions of bank customers would be denied access to USSD for bank transactions.
However, the banks have a two-week grace to settle their debts with the telcos or would be disconnected.
According to the notice signed by NCC Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, the “Commission will thereafter recover such Codes and may reassign them to other applicants in accordance with the applicable instruments.
“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.”
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The telecom regulator explained that as of the close of business on Tuesday, 14th January 2025, a total of 18 financial institutions, the 9 institutions listed above were the only ones that 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 financial institutions have been duly notified of the need for immediate compliance in accordance with the Commission’s Guidelines on Short Code Operation in Nigeria, 2023.”
The CBN and NCC had in December 2024, issued a circular requiring banks to settle USSD debt, it mandated the banks to pay a percentage of outstanding invoices and agree to payment plans, while asking the banks to stop legal actions related to the debt.
The mobile network operators had over the years threatened to disconnect the banks due to the unpaid debt, which was put at N120 billion as of 2023.
