Under the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) directive, telecom companies will deactivate the USSD codes of nine banks due to their inability to pay the N160 billion USSD debt that remained pending since 2019.

The banks include FCMB, Fidelity Bank, Jaiz Bank, Polaris Bank, Sterling Bank, UBA, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank.

However, the order directed the telcos to allow full access to the other nine banks to continue after settling their debts.

The banks and their USSD codes include Access Bank with its 901 access code, Ecobank with USSD code 326, First Bank with 894, GTBank with access code 737, Heritage Bank (now defunct) with USSD code (745), Keystone Bank with 7111, Stanbic IBTC Bank with USSD code 909, Union Bank with 826, Globus Bank with 989, Standard Chartered Bank with 977, and Lotus Bank, with access codes of 5045.

The affected banks’ USSD codes will be disconnected after Monday, January 27, 2025.

NCC said: “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."

USSD is a key component of the payment gateway for Nigerians, especially those in rural areas with feature phones, where smartphone and internet access remain low.

USSD codes are a key component of financial inclusion

According to a report, during the 20th anniversary of the telecom sector operations in Nigeria, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, the former Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, said USSD's introduction changed the banking landscape tremendously.

Experts say USSD is critical and a universal channel for financial transactions. Since 2019, some Nigerian banks have been unable to offset their debt with telecom operators, which poses a threat to financial inclusion in Nigeria.

Nine banks offset USSD debt

The disconnection notice to the nine banks comes after a recent order by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the NCC, which asked the banks to pay a large bank of the USSD debt owed to the telecom operators.

The apex bank disclosed in a memo on December 20, directing the banks to pay about 85% of the outstanding invoices.

The NCC disclosed that only nine of the 18 debtor banks complied with the payment directive, stating that total debt had dropped from over N200 billion to N160 billion.