Telecommunications operators have withdrawn the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) shortcode service banks and other financial service operators leverage on their platforms to service the banking community.
The operators under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) claimed that the banks owed them over N42 billion in debts for the past eight months.
The telcos claimed that since the USSD Pricing determination by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which resulted in a price review of USSD service by its members, banks were yet to pay them the accumulated USSD transactions cost.
The implication of this is that from March 15, the date to commence the service withdrawal, customers would have huge challenges in carrying out financial transactions via the USSD platforms.
This means, you’ll not be able to perform any transaction using the USSD platform. Subscribers are encouraged to explore alternative channels with their banks, while the withdrawal of USSD service was in place.