Commercial banks have disconnected MTN customers from
banking channels including the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data and
banking apps.
MTN customers complained on Friday about being unable to
recharge their MTN lines using USSD and other banking channels like the bank
apps.
Customers were also unable to do banking transactions on MTN
lines through USSD.
According to a source close to the telco, this was not the
doing of MTN but the banks who had refused to give any formal communication
prior to the disconnection.
The source said, “Please note that MTN didn’t cut off
customers and has no hand in this. This is strictly the banks acting on their
own.
“We woke up this morning to see that MTN customers were cut
off from USSD services overnight. This has come as a surprise as there was no
formal communication from the banks to their customers prior to their taking
this action.”
The source disclosed that MTN had reduced the banks’
commission from an average of 3.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent which predicated the
actions of the banks.
According to the source, the reduction is standard because
the volumes compensate for the reduction, adding that the contract with
convenience channel partners and aggregators through which they were indirectly
connected to the banks allowed this.
The source said, “The banks wrote back to the aggregators to
revert back to the old commission, otherwise, they would block MTN airtime in
all their channels.
“The channels were blocked midnight leaving our customers
stranded. Interesting that the bank Managing Directors met and quickly took a
decision. Subscribers to telecommunications are being denied services by the
banks even when they have money in their accounts.”
The source noted that Zenith bank, which was connected
directly to MTN and had their earnings at 2.70 per cent, was the only bank that
had not blocked the telco.
However, banks on MOD that had an uplift in their commission
from 2.0 per cent to 2.75 per cent have blocked services, according to him.
Banks with direct connection to the telco through MOD got a commission uplift.
According to the source, the banks were unwilling to pay the
cost of the USSD channel and were okay with cutting off subscribers in order to
protect their profits.
The source added, “This only has to do with preservation of
bank profits, which are already substantial and growing despite the wider
economic conditions
“The government needs to step in and deal with this once and
for all. Nigerian banks need to stop their tyrannical posture.”
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