Bank Customers to Pay for USSD Services- CBN, NCC
Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the country’s telecommunications regulatory body, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), have said that bank customers will start paying for USSD services effective from today, March 16, 2021.
Bank customers will now pay N6.98 kobo per Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) transactions. The price replaced the former per session billing structure for USSD transactions.
The CBN and NCC made this known in a joint statement on the pricing of USSD services, signed by Osita Nwanisobi, AG, Director Corporate Communications, CBN and Director Public Affairs, NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde.
The statement reads:
“Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) have had protracted disagreements concerning the appropriate USSD pricing model for financial transactions. “This resulted in the accumulation of outstanding fees for USSD services rendered leading to potential service withdrawal by the MNOs.”
“We are pleased to announce that after comprehensive deliberations on the key issues, a resolution framework acceptable to all parties was agreed thus:
“Effective March 16, 2021, USSD services for financial transactions conducted at Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and all CBN – licensed institutions will be charged at a flat fee of N6.98 per transaction.
“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.”
Read More from the joint statement here: https://www.lawyard.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/NIGERIAN.pdf
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