Indicators surfaced on Monday indicating the telecom operators have decided to stop the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) due to the deposit money banks’ (DMBs’) failure to pay the long-standing N250 billion debt, barring any other action.

Due to the banks’ noncompliance with the December 23, 2024, joint decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which mandated that they make a partial payment of the debt by December 31, 2024, the USSD service is anticipated to be suspended in two weeks.

Only four of the owed institutions have made sizable payments, according to information obtained by NEWSWORLD on Monday, while 18 banks have not appropriately replied. According to telecom industry sources, the two weeks are intended to get customers ready for the possibility that the service could be suspended.

The sources were adamant that the suspension had already been approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and that the USSD service would be terminated if the DMBs did not take any action following the suspension.