MTN users lament as USSD channel becomes unavailable

MTN subscribers are having difficulty recharging their lines through mobile banking applications and the unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) channel.

Customers of the telecommunications operator took to social media on Friday to lament.

In a message sent to its customers, MTN asked users to recharge their lines through physical cards.

“Dear Customer, our bank recharge channels are currently unavailable. Kindly recharge using physical cards. We apologise for the inconvenience. Thank you,” the message reads.

Efforts to reach Funso Aina, MTN Nigeria’s senior manager for external relations, proved abortive as he did not respond to calls or reply to a text message sent by TheCable.

Meanwhile, a message posted on the MTN Nigeria Support handle on Twitter states that the development is a “technical glitch” that is being worked on.

Below are reactions from Twitter users on the development.

TheCable could not confirm if the development is connected to the N42 billion debt owed by financial service providers.

Telcos had announced their plan to suspend USSD services over the debt, however, the move was hindered following an intervention by Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy.

In a meeting headed by Pantami, mobile network operators (MNOs) and deposit money banks (DMBs) agreed to reduce the charge on customers using USSD to N6.98 for each transaction.