All is not well yet as talks between MTN Nigeria and its banking partners on how to resolve the dispute over commission for airtime vending on unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) on Friday failed to achieve an amicable settlement.
At the latest meeting, MTN insisted that the streamlining it undertook aligned with global standards and best practices as the scale is built along distribution channels.
Africa Daily News, New York can confirm that parties continued their scheduled meeting yesterday but the grey areas were yet to be fully ironed out even as the telecom operators apologised to its customers over the restriction suffered during the Easter holidays.
A letter signed by MTN’s Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, and addressed to the Chairman of Body of Banks CEOs, Herbert Wigwe, who doubles as Access Bank’s CEO, showed that the meeting started on Tuesday. It was inconclusive and slated for yesterday which also ended in a deadlock.
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‘In an attempt to resolve the current USSD recharge impasse, given the intervention of our regulators, we hereby agree that the banks revert to the status quo of 4.5 percent commission. However, the banks and MTN Communications Nigeria Plc shall sit to agree on various options that will result in the reduction in the costs on April 6, 2021,’ Toriola had said.
In an update on banking channel partners’ dispute and expansion of channel network issued, MTN said following the temporary suspension of sales of MTN products through its banking channel partners on April 2, 2021, services were restored on Sunday, April 4, 2021, with customers able to access all services.
It said this was agreed on the basis that MTN would revert to its previous cost of sales structures with banking partners until a new long-term agreement can be reached on a sustainable pricing structure going forward.
‘Consequent on the intervention of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, the Nigeria Communication Commission, and the Central Bank of Nigeria, since April 6, 2021, MTN has been participating in a series of meetings to align on longer-term pricing structures. We will provide a further market update once these discussions have been concluded.
‘The streamlining MTN undertook is international standard and best practice as the scale is built along distribution channels. We are confident that partners in the banking sector will work with us to ensure this process concludes as quickly as possible to the benefit of the entire industry.
‘MTN would like to thank our customers for their patience, and express our regret at the inconvenience imposed on them while banking channels were offline. In order to further expand the range of channels available to customers, MTN has activated a number of new channel partnerships with fintech partners and these will remain in place, significantly expanding the channels available to our customers and increasing our sales and distribution network,’ the statement read in part.
Industry sources say MTN is not yet done with its mission to reduce the commission having connected with fintech platforms that offered the same services to its customers.
The new channel partners the telco connected to include Sparkle, Konga Pay, Barter By Flutter Wave, Jumia Pay, OPay, Kuda, Carbon, BillsnPay, MTN On-Demand, MTN Xtratime airtime loans (*606#), myMTN Web http://mymtn.com.ng and Momo agent *223#.
‘We would also like to thank the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the Nigeria Communication Commission, and the Central Bank of Nigeria for their rapid intervention and we look forward to a mutually acceptable solution that empowers all ecosystem participants,’ concluded the statement.
The parties had locked horns following MTN’s reduction of airtime vending commission via USSD from 4.5 percent to 2.5 percent which led the banks to restrict customers’ bank accounts on the platform. The old commission was restored two days later following MTN’s revert to the status quo of 2.5 percent.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
