Access, Zenith, UBA, Other Banks Settle N160bn Owed to MTN, Airtel, Others as New SMS Fee Begins
- Commercial banks have settled the outstanding N160 billion USSD debt owed to telecommunication companies
- The chief executive of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, disclosed this in a recent interview, stating that the telcos have received full settlement
- Meanwhile, telecommunication companies and commercial banks are in talks to start charging for USSD service from subscribers’ airtime
Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.
As commercial banks and other financial institutions commence new SMS alert fee charges, the lingering Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt impasse between banks and telecommunication companies has been fully settled.
MTN Nigeria’s chief executive officer, Karl Toriola, confirmed the development during an interview on Arise Television as he spoke on the Q1 financial results of the firm.
Source: UGC
Lingering USSD debts lead to disconnections
Legit.ng reported that Nigeria’s leading telco returned to profitability after grossing N1 trillion in revenue earnings, buoyed by data prices and naira stability.
The USSD debt had been a major issue between the two critical sectors in Nigeria’s economy, lasting over five years.
In the third quarter of 2024, the telcos disconnected some commercial banks over the debt, which was about N200 billion.
CBN and NCC intervene
The disconnection led to the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
According to reports, as of November last year, the telecom regulator put the outstanding debt at N160 billion.
The directive by the NCC to disconnect debtor banks prompted the financial institutions to comply with an earlier directive by the apex bank, which revealed a payment plan.
However, the MTN Nigeria boss, Toriola, confirmed that the issue has been fully settled and that banks have paid.
He said:
“I can confirm that the matter has been fully resolved. We have received payments in full. Special thanks to the CBN, NCC, the banks, and other stakeholders that intervened in the matter.”
Telcos start charging for USSD service from airtime
The Guardian reported that in April 2025, the chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, disclosed that the issue was receiving urgent attention from the parties.
He said that telecom subscribers would soon start paying for using USSD with deductions from their airtime rather than bank deposits.
The end-user billing system refers to a system in which customers are charged directly for using the USSD service, rather than the service provider being charged.
Development to resolve future USSD debt
The development means customers’ airtime is debited for the USSD session, despite any subsequent charges by the bank.
Experts say this is a departure from the traditional corporate billing system, where banks were charged for USSD use.
The ALTON boss said talks are ongoing and the modalities are being put in place to conglomerate subscribers, telcos and the banks into a suite.
Source: Getty Images
According to him, the end-user billing system, advocated for by the banks, may help to guard against accumulated debts, as seen in the impasse between the banks and telcos.
MTN Nigeria spends N202 billion on network upgrade
Legit.ng earlier reported that MTN Nigeria said it had invested N202.4 billion, representing 159% yearly, in infrastructure upgrades and network expansion to boost service delivery and capacity.
The company disclosed this in its unaudited financials for Q1 2025, saying its subscribers grew by 8.2% to 84.1 million, an addition of 3.2 million subscribers during the review period.
The telco disclosed that its active data users increased by 13.0% to 50.3 million, an additional 2.6 million users.
PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!
Proofreading by Kola Muhammed, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
