CBN assures of amicable decision of banks, telcos dispute

The Central Financial institution of Nigeria (CBN) has mentioned it’s conscious of the protracted dispute between the banks and telecommunication operators and has been participating all stakeholders to make sure amicable decision.

Telcos had threatened to disconnect banks Unstructured Supplementary Service Information (USSD) over money owed amounting to about N120 billion.

A press release signed by Isa AbdulMumin, the CBN’s performing director, company communications, mentioned it was because of the direct intervention of the CBN Governor in March 2021 {that a} per session value of N6.98 (together with to settle any excellent charges) was agreed upon between the banks and telcos.

“So far as we’re conscious, since 2021, deposit cash banks (DMBs) proceed to gather the USSD charges and remit the identical on behalf of the telcos primarily based on that settlement,”AbdulMumin mentioned.

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“We perceive the most recent dispute issues technical points concerning the definition of a profitable transaction from a financial institution and telco perspective.”

USSD charges are charged by DMBs utilizing an automatic system which payments the shopper for a profitable transaction solely after a banking service is consumed. For the Telcos, a profitable transaction occurs as soon as the shopper has dialed the USSD short-code which can not result in the consummation of a banking service. While Such truncated transactions usually are not registered on the DMBs assortment platform and thus not billed to financial institution prospects, telcos count on the DMBs to cost prospects as soon as the short-code is dialed, whether or not or not a monetary transaction is consummated.

At a current assembly of the DMBs and the Telco representatives chaired by the CBN governor to resolve the problem, he acknowledged the telcos proper to gather all legitimately earned charges as a consequence of them and to get better their value. Following dialogue the direct billing mannequin was proposed as a long-lasting resolution to the problem. This is able to allow telcos full visibility of USSD transactions and permit them to cost their prospects straight. The feasibility of the mannequin continues to be being labored out by the related stakeholders.

“USSD is a vital channel leveraged primarily by the financially excluded, susceptible and significant mass,” AbdulMumin mentioned.

“The CBN stays dedicated to making sure that the areas of competition associated to assortment of telco prices for USSD are resolved within the curiosity of the monetary system and general economic system.”