Banks and telecommunications operators in Nigeria have resolved a four-year dispute over nearly N300bn owed for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data services, with the outstanding debt now fully settled, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria has said.

ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, announced the resolution on Thursday during an official visit to the Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Idris Olorunnimbe.

He attributed the successful conclusion of the long-running dispute to the intervention of the NCC, led by its Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Aminu Maida.

“When Dr Maida assumed office, he inherited significant industry challenges,” Adebayo said. “One of the most difficult was the USSD debt crisis, a debt burden that grew over four years to nearly N300bn. It had become a systemic risk to our sector and the digital financial ecosystem.

“Through firm leadership, structured engagement, and decisive coordination, Dr Maida and his team resolved this issue.

“Today, there is no outstanding USSD debt. The ecosystem has fully migrated to end-user billing. What was once a looming crisis has been converted into a sustainable framework.”

The settlement brings to an end years of accusations and counter-accusations between banks and telecom operators, a standoff that had threatened the stability of the country’s digital financial services sector.

Adebayo praised the leadership of the NCC for guiding the sector through one of its most delicate periods, highlighting other interventions such as last year’s approval of a 50 per cent USSD tariff increase.

The ALTON’s chairman described the resolution of the debt crisis as a major milestone for the telecom and digital finance ecosystem, saying it would enhance sustainability and predictability for operators and service providers.

Nigeria’s telecom and banking sectors migrated to the End-User Billing model for USSD services in mid-2025, shifting charges from bank accounts to customers’ mobile airtime, which is deducted directly by telecom operators. The move effectively resolved the protracted dispute in which banks owed operators up to N300bn in unpaid USSD fees.

The transition followed years of tension between telecom companies, including MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria, and banks over USSD revenue sharing, with outstanding debts estimated at between N250bn and N300bn by 2024.

The NCC working with the Central Bank of Nigeria, developed the EUB framework to standardise billing, improve transparency, and strengthen financial inclusion for unbanked users who depend heavily on USSD channels.

Under the EUB system, charges are deducted directly from customers’ mobile airtime at N6.98 per session of up to 120 seconds, with consent prompts issued before each deduction.

Banks no longer bill for USSD services, as telecom operators now manage the process exclusively, supported by regulatory safeguards designed to prevent double billing.

Users retain the option to opt in or out of the service, while banks are required to notify customers in advance of any applicable USSD session charges.

Migration to the EUB model was carried out between June 3 and 18, 2025, after partial debt repayments totalling N171bn. By February 19, 2026, banks had cleared the outstanding balance in full, cementing the nationwide rollout of the framework in Nigeria.

The model enhances user control through instant airtime deductions and session notifications, similar to conventional voice and SMS billing.