Business

USSD Charges: Telcos threaten to withdraw services over banks’ misinformation

“If you do not wish to continue using USSD banking under this new model, you may choose to discontinue use of the USSD channel.”

Published

1 year ago

June 4, 2025

OhiBaba

880 Views

The telecom operators in Nigeria, including MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Globacom and 9Mobile have threatened to withdraw network support for banks’ Unstructured Supplementary Services Data, USSD.

This follows what they described as gross misinformation of subscribers on the mode of deduction for transaction fees.

USSD, commonly known as ‘bank transfers’, is done through shortcodes on mobile phones.

Yesterday, the banks issued a notice to their customers that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed them to stop deducting charges for USSD transactions directly from customers’ accounts, and that telecoms will now deduct charges from users’ mobile airtime.

The notice from the banks read in part:

“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.

“Under this new billing structure, each USSD session will attract a charge of ?6.98 per 120 seconds, which will be billed by your mobile network operator.

“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 fulfil 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.”

However, in a swift reaction, the telcos under their umbrella body, the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, ALTON said the banks’ notice is a gross misinformation deliberately hatched to suit their selfish interests.

Hence they threatened to withdraw network support to the banks’ USSD services.

Chairman of ALTON Engr Gbenga Adebayo told Vanguard: ” I don’t understand why the banks are twisting agreements and distorting information just to favour their selfish interests.

In the first place, the information wasn’t a directive from the NCC but a joint regulatory agreement between the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN witnessed by the telcos and the banks.

The agreement was that if the banks finally cleared all USSD debts owed to the telcos by June 2, 2025, they would be free to migrate to the end-user billing method, so long as the model of migration is transparent and agreed upon by the telcos.

Source: Vanguard

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Cardoso Urges Banks To Lend Out Idle Funds With CBN * Retains MPR at 26.5%

Cardoso made the call on Tuesday after the 306th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja from July 20 to July 21.

Published

7 hours ago

July 21, 2026

OCHEFA

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso , urged banks from keeping idle funds with the apex bank and encouraging increased lending into the economy.

Cardoso made the call on Tuesday after the 306th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja from July 20 to July 21.

The apex bank retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), also known as benchmark interest rate, at 26. 5 percent.

This decision marks the second consecutive retention of the MPR at 26.5 per cent, following a 50-basis-point reduction in February from 27 per cent.

“The committee’s decision to maintain the current policy stand follows a thorough assessment of the balance of risk,” said Cardoso.

He emphasised that although headline inflation moderated marginally in June 2026, global uncertainties have heightened due mainly to the renewed hostilities in the Middle East.

The MPC also adjusted the asymmetric facilities corridor around the MPR to +50/-450 basis points—a move aimed at discouraging banks from keeping idle fund with CBN.

Furthermore, the committee maintained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks at 45 per cent, retained the rate for merchant banks at 16 per cent, and kept the CRR on non-TSA public-sector deposits at 75 per cent for liquidity management considerations.

Cardoso said despite the global uncertainties, the Nigerian economy has “remained largely resilient to the external shocks”.

Business

CBN admits it opened domiciliary accounts for PFIPC agency

Represented by the Director of its Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, the CBN said that the accounts are one in US dollars, the other in British pounds sterling, were opened following a mandate received from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Published

16 hours ago

July 21, 2026

OCHEFA

20 Views

File photo : PFIPC agency DG, Adeniyi Adeyemi

The Central Bank of Nigeria had admitted that it opened two foreign-currency domiciliary accounts for the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

The apex bank made the confirmation, yesterday, during the public hearing convened at the National Assembly Complex by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the existence and operations of the PFIPC, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi and inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

He explained that on July 30, 2025, CBN received a mandate dated July 29, 2025 from the Office of the Accountant-General.

“We received the mandate to authorise two accounts, one a US dollar domiciliary account, the other a pound domiciliary account, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council,” Ibrahim told the committee.

He explained the CBN’s verification process, “The process of opening an account requires a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

“Once we receive that mandate, we perform all the necessary verifications to confirm that this mandate is actually coming from that office.

The department that handles the mandate is different from the department that actually does the account opening,” he said.

Nevertheless, he noted that no one came to activate the accounts after they were opened.“We did not receive any correspondence, mandate, signature or mandate cards. We were not introduced to the authorising or approving officers.“Based on that, those accounts remain inactive, with zero balance. There have been no foreign exchange allocations.