Nigerian banks have made significant progress in repaying a N160 billion debt owed to telecom operators, preventing the disconnection of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services, which are essential for millions of users without internet access.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had warned that nine banks—including Fidelity Bank, FCMB, Jaiz Bank, Polaris Bank, Sterling Bank, UBA, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank—would be cut off from USSD services by January 27 if they failed to clear their debts. However, the banks acted swiftly to resolve the issue.
Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), confirmed that the matter had been de-escalated, with payments made and further progress expected under regulatory oversight.
The debt, which originated in 2019 when banks began incurring charges for USSD services, has been addressed through a structured payment plan outlined in a December 2024 memo by the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The plan requires banks to:
- Settle 60% of outstanding pre-API invoices by January 2, 2025
- Fully pay pre-API invoices by July 2, 2025
- Clear 85% of post-API invoices by December 31, 2025
This phased approach aims to prevent future service disruptions while ensuring telecom operators receive their dues.
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