Full List of Nigerian Banks With Functional USSD Codes as FG Deactivates 9 Others

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has instructed telecom companies to deactivate the USSD codes of nine banks due to their failure to settle a N160 billion debt that has been pending since 2019. The affected banks are FCMB, Fidelity Bank, Jaiz Bank, Polaris Bank, Sterling Bank, UBA, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank. The deactivation will take effect on January 27, 2025.

However, the NCC has directed telecom companies to continue providing full access to USSD services for other banks that have cleared their debts. These include Access Bank (901), Ecobank (326), First Bank (894), GTBank (737), Heritage Bank (745), Keystone Bank (7111), Stanbic IBTC Bank (909), Union Bank (826), Globus Bank (989), Standard Chartered Bank (977), and Lotus Bank (5045).

The NCC emphasized that the USSD service is vital, particularly for rural Nigerians who rely on feature phones, given the limited access to smartphones and the internet. This move follows a December 20 memo from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which directed banks to settle 85% of the outstanding USSD debts. As a result, the total debt owed by the banks dropped from over N200 billion to N160 billion, with only nine of the 18 debtor banks complying with the payment directive.

USSD has significantly transformed the banking sector, as highlighted by Ebenezer Onyeagwu, former Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, during the 20th anniversary of Nigeria’s telecom sector. Experts consider USSD a crucial, universal channel for financial transactions.