Banks Oppose MTN On USSD Charges.
UMORU ABDULKADIR
Banks have joined the oppositions against the MTN Nigeria Communication planned USSD charge as they disassociated themselves from the telecom firm’s plan to further over burden the subscribers.
The body of Nigerian Bank Chief Executive Officers, CEOs, in a statement issued Monday insisted that they never directed MTN to charge customers as claimed by the telecommunication outfit on a plan that will affect intra, and inter bank money transfers through USSD among others.
Banks opposition to the MTN plan came on the heel of the resolve by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not allow MTN’s plan.
MTN had over the weekend sent a message to its customers that it would from October 21, 2019, charge N4 on every 20 seconds spent while using USSD access to banking services.
“Yello, Please note that from Oct 21, we will charge N4 per 20 seconds for USSD access to banking services. Thank you,” the message had read.
Thee banks CEO in joint statement, noted that: “Our attention has been drawn to SMS sent on Saturday 19th October by MTN Nigeria Communications PLC (“MTN”) to customers of banks in Nigeria in respect of the above.
“The message states that the banks requested MTN to start charging customers for USSD transactions directly. It also asks customers to contact their banks for more information.
They insisted that they did not ask MTN to start charging customers as contained in the text message, stating that 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.
They explained that MTN had delayed the implementation of the end user billing despite several engagement by the banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
“MTN is the only Telco that is yet to implement end-user billing which is the standard practice for customer-initiated transactions. 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.
“That the banks are determined to pursue the National Financial Inclusion Strategy of 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.
“We wish to re-iterate that financial transaction charges are regulated by the CBN as stipulated in the Bankers Tariff, and that the charges for financial transactions carried out with banks remain unchanged.”
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele who said the MTN’s plan would not hold noted that USSD is a sunk cost that is not additional on the telecom firm;s infrastructure.
He stated that a meeting was held some months bank with telecom companies and leading banks where they all concluded that USSD is a sunk cost.
“About five, four months ago, I held a meeting with some telecom companies as well as the leading banks in Nigeria at Central Bank, Lagos.
“At that time, we came to a conclusion that the use of USSD is a sunk cost.
Emefiele said the telecom firms disagreed and insisted on imposing the charge which the CBN goveernor the banks would not allow to happen.
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