ALTON: Migration of banks to USSD end-user billing system underway

Gbenga Adebayo, the chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), says the migration of banks to the new end-user billing system for the unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) is underway.

On June 3, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) directed commercial banks to stop deducting charges for USSD transactions directly from customers’ accounts, saying such fees will now be deducted from users’ airtime balances.

The directive came months after the NCC, in collaboration with the central bank, intervened in the dispute between telecommunications companies and banks over the N250 billion USSD debt.

Speaking during a session with the MTN media innovation programme alumni on Thursday, Adebayo said the migration of banks to the new end-user billing system is progressing in phases/.

The ALTON chairman said some institutions have been onboarded already.

He said more banks will join the platform in the coming days, as the agreements and service-level arrangements (SLA) have been finalised.

“We started with the first now. The details of the agreement and SLA have been fine-tuned and signed off. We will have more banks be migrated,” Adebayo said.

He, however, clarified that banks that are yet to migrate will not be excluded from using the USSD services, noting that the corporate billing option will still remain available for those who choose not to transition.

“Those who may not wish to migrate to the new billing method, if they wish to stay on the old, they can as well stay on the old method, provided they clear their debt and they continue to pay their obligations as due,” he added.

‘TELCOS HAVE RECOVERED 95% OF USSD DEBTS FROM BANKS’

Speaking on the state of financial reconciliation between telcos and banks, Adebayo said the financial institutions involved have made significant progress in settling the USSD debt owed to mobile network operators (MNOs).

He estimated that between 90 percent and 95 percent of the debt has been paid, adding that the industry is in a good position.

“N180 billion was the outstanding debt as at January. We have 18 banks of interest who had outstanding payment before we developed what is called the API,” he said.

“I am glad to say that out of the 18, one didn’t have any pre-API, one is insolvent, I think that is Heritage Bank. So we have 16 of them and out of the 16, 13 have fully paid outstanding.

“The remaining three opted for installmental payment and are just about paying the last part if they have not paid as of today. So it will be safe to say that a significant part of the debt has been paid.

“I will say 90% to 95% of the debt has been paid pre-API. So in terms of numbers, I think we are good. In terms of fulfilment, I think we are good.”

On February 28, MTN Nigeria said it received N32 billion — out of N72 billion — from banks as part of payment for the USSD debt.