Real Reason MTN, Airtel and Others May Withdraw USSD Services From Banks
- Telecommunication companies in Nigeria have threatened to withdraw USSD services from banks
- The telecom companies under the aegis of The Association of Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON said the banks owe them N80 billion
- According to the Chairman of ALTON, the debt has continued to grow as banks remain adamant and refused to pay
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Telecom companies have threatened to withhold their Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) from banks over a huge debt by the banks.
The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) stated that debts owed to them by deposit money banks in Nigeria have risen to N80 billion as of November this year.
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ALTON says banks deny owing telcos
ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo disclosed this in an interview with journalists.
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Adebayo stated that very soon telecom firms would be forced to withdraw their USSD services if banks refuse to pay and stockpile the debts.
TheCable quotes Adebayo as saying that the debt is continuously rising and that as of November 2022, the accumulated debt increased to N80 billion.
In 2019, when the argument began, the debt stood at N32 billion and banks continue to claim they are not owing. Adebayo said that findings show that the banks have continued to use the USSD platform to offer banking services to their customers and not remit to the telcos.
Adebayo said:
“Time will soon come when we will be constrained to withdraw the service and many bank customers that depend on the USSD service will suffer for it and it will affect the economy. It is honourable to pay their debts and they have to pay,” Adebayo said.
The debts have pitched the banks against the telcos since 2019.
In 2019, the telecom companies said they could not continue to provide services for free and opted to take a cut of N4.50 per 20 seconds session from charges by bank customers.
Minister's intervention yields no results
The banks rejected the move and said it would raise charges by 450 per cent.
By March 2021, telecom operators threatened to suspend their USSD services over 42 billion accumulated debt by the banks. The move was halted by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.
At the meeting with Pantami on March 16, 2021, the parties agreed to reduce the charges on customers to N6.98 per session for each USS transaction.
Adebayo said some banks, however, are making remittances while others are not, according to a report by ThisDay.
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