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Banks, Telcos To Charge Customers ₦6.98 For Each USSD Transaction
Nigerians using unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) to carry out financial transactions will now be charged a flat fee of N6.98 for each transaction, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) disclosed on Tuesday.
The development is contained in a joint statement released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday.
The development is sequel to an agreement reached between MNOs and DMBs after an impasse ensued over USSD billing arrangement.
Ekohotblog had reported how Telcos recently announced their plan to suspend USSD services due to over N42 billion debt owed by financial service providers.
But Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, weighed in on the imbr and asked the telcos to shelve their impending strike.
According to the joint statement, Pantami chaired a meeting of key stakeholders to discuss resolution in the interest of the general public.
At the meeting it was agreed that USSD services for financial transactions conducted at DMBs and all CBN – licensed institutions will be charged at a flat fee of N6.08 per transaction.
The new billing arrangement, which will replace the current per billing structure, will take effect from March 16.
“This replaces the current per session billing structure, ensuring a much cheaper average cost for customers to enhance financial inclusion. This approach is transparent and will ensure the amount remains the same, regardless of the number of sessions per transaction,” the statement reads.
“To promote transparency in its administration, the new USSD charges will be collected on behalf of MNOs directly from customers bank accounts. Banks shall not impose additional charges on customers for use of the USSD channel.
“A settlement plan for outstanding payments incurred for USSD services, previously rendered by the MNOs, is being worked out by all parties in a bid to ensure that the matter is fully resolved.”
It noted that the impending suspension of banks from the USSD channel is hereby nullified.
In 2019, telcos said they could no longer provide the services for free and proposed to take a cut of N4.50k per 20 seconds from the charges paid by customers to the banks.
However, the banks kicked against it, alleging that it would raise costs by 450 percent.
The meeting was attended by representatives of MNOs, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), DMBs, CBN and NCC.
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