Yemisi Izuora
Chief executives of financial institutions in Nigeria has distanced themselves from messages sent out by MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, MTN, to customers on planned charges on USSD.
In the message MTN stated that the banks had requested it to start charging customers for USSD transactions directly and also asks customers to contact their banks for more information.
But in a swift reaction, the banks denied asking MTN to start charging customers as contained in the text message.
The decision on whether, and what amount, to charge a customer for accessing USSD is entirely that of the telco company, in the same way a customer is billed for calls, SMS and data, the banks said.
They observed that MTN is the only Telco that is yet to implement end-user billing which is the standard practice for customer-initiated transactions, adding, “This is despite the fact that the banks, working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), have engaged MTN over a period of more than one year to try and bring down the cost of USSD to aid financial inclusion.”
They said the banks are determined to pursue the National Financial Inclusion Strategyof the Federal Government of Nigeria and will continue to advocate that Telcos identify wholeheartedly with this laudable initiative and implement transparent and low pricing model in the use of USSD access codes.
They further re-iterated that financial transaction charges are regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN as stipulated in the Bankers Tariff, and that the charges for financial transactions carried out with banks remain unchanged.