The long-running dispute between telecom operators and commercial banks over unpaid USSD fees is close to being resolved, as telecom firms report recovering 95% of the N180 billion debt.

The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, made this disclosure on Thursday that only three banks still owe outstanding USSD fees, all of which have committed to structured repayment plans.

This marks a major breakthrough in the five-year dispute, which had posed a serious threat to mobile banking services — a key financial access point for millions of Nigerians, particularly in rural communities with poor internet connectivity.

“The debt, which stood at about N180bn as of January this year, has now been cleared up to 95 per cent, with only three banks left to pay,” said Adebayo during a virtual media briefing. The telecom executive did not disclose the names of the defaulting banks.

His remarks came a day after ALTON, the telecom group he currently leads, announced the rollout of a new billing model that charges customers directly for USSD services via their mobile airtime, instead of through their bank accounts.

Under the new end-user billing system, telecom operators deduct the standard N6.98 per 120-second USSD session directly from users’ airtime balances, but only after customers receive and approve a prompt to opt in.

The executive clarified that while migration to the new model is optional, banks choosing to retain the older corporate billing arrangement must have fully cleared their outstanding debts and must remit all future service fees promptly.

“Those who may not want to migrate to the new method can continue with corporate billing, provided they have paid all their debt and will not owe telecom operators, since they are deducting money from their customers,” he stated.

The repayment progress and shift to a new billing model represent the latest chapter in a dispute that began in 2019, when telecom operators accused banks of failing to pay for USSD services that had already been provided.

In 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission introduced a temporary arrangement: a flat N6.98 per USSD session to be collected by banks and remitted to telecom operators. However, the implementation was inconsistent.

To enforce compliance, a joint directive issued by the CBN and NCC in December 2024 ordered banks to pay 60% of outstanding debts by January 2, 2025, clear all arrears by July 2, and settle 85% of new charges by the end of the year.