CBN gives banks 3 days to resolve USSD disputes

Dipo Fatokun, director, banking and payments system department

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Saturday directed all commercial banks to resolve disputes arising from use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel within three days.
Such resolution, according to Dipo Fatokun, director, banking and payments system department, will help build more confidence in the payment system and bring more people into the financial services net.
Speaking on the theme: Half-Year Review of Developments in the E-Payment Industry and Customer Protection, Fatokun said: “USSD transactions above N20,000 require two-factor authentication (2FA).
“No USSD financial service should be activated for customer unless the deactivation mechanism is put in place with effect from October 2018. In addition, the CBN is currently working to properly structure and formalise the sandbox arrangement in Nigeria by collaborating with some infrastructure providers like the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to interact with FinTechs.”
Fatokun, who was represented by assistant director, Banking and Payments System Department, Taiwo Oladimeji, said maximum USSD transaction limit remained N100,000 per customer per day, adding that any amount above that required customer to execute indemnity at the bank.
He said the financial system was undergoing transformation through technology, adding that it was not only peculiar to the financial services sector, but all sectors of human endeavours.
“We are seeing new operators with technology savvy, more efficient models, and collaborations among new entrants as well as established participants in payments systems in ways that exhibit regulatory challenges”.
“To meet up with the challenges, some countries have adopted regulatory sandbox approach, which is not totally novel to the CBN. We are however working to properly structure and formalise the sandbox arrangement in Nigeria by collaborating with some infrastructure providers to interact with FinTechs,” he said.
He said a well-functioning National Payments System (NPS) was crucial to the financial sector development as it increases confidence in the financial sector by ensuring a credible, reliable and efficient payment system.
He added that in recent years, the Nigerian payment landscape had experienced a lot of innovation, bursting with enterprise and reaching the unbanked and undeserved.
Speaking further, he said consumer protection, involves a whole range of laws, policies, structures, actions and behaviours designed to protect consumers from the abuse and exploitation of service providers.
“Consumer protection is critical in improving access and usage of financial products and services. Ensures that increased access and usage of financial services, translate into benefits for the economy and individuals” .
“Helps protect consumers from probable market abuse and exploitation. Helps consumers benefit from well informed decisions. Helps consumers appreciate how best to use and manage financial products and services,” he said.