By Dennis Ogu

The USSD (otherwise known as Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) is gradually turning itself to an enemy of its Nigerian subscribers, rather than a partner in progress.

Since the CBN policy came into effect that subscribers should be charged from their airtime and no more from their bank accounts in USSD-aided financial transactions, the whole process has turned to an opportunity for the App to be exploiting its Nigerian subscribers.

In the first place, the charge is supposed to be the exact amount charged for SMS which is N6; but they actually charge N6.98 instead for reasons unknown to Nigerians.

Apart from this, there are other hidden charges they collect from the subscribers’ bank accounts each day the person does transactions. Again, there are no explanations for these charges.

One disturbing experience in this their new billing system is the time they allow for the steps involved in each transaction.

Before this new policy came into effect, they usually allowed ample time for subscribers to do every transaction from beginning to the end – as at then, charges were taken just once from the subscriber’s bank account.

But since this new system came into effect, they now allow very little time for subscribers to input the codes requested by the message prompts at each of the steps necessary to complete every transaction.

As a matter of fact, you notice that before one finishes reading the instructions at each prompt, the next thing that would appear on the phone screen is “time out”, thus marking the end of the transaction. With this, the subscriber would have no option than to start all over again in order to complete his transaction. And this attracts additional charges on the subscriber’s airtime.

Even when the service is bad or when there is no network service in the area the subscriber is doing the transaction, they will still go ahead to charge the person knowing very well that the transaction will not be successful at the end. Yet at the end, there will be no form of compensation for the failed transaction that was no fault of the subscriber.

Some times, they would cancel the transaction midway without any explanation and no refund, hence requiring the subscriber to repeat the process and be charged again. And all these poor services and unnecessary charges take place under these harsh economic realities in the country.

In spite of the fact that this is a digital service that people access with their phones, it is not something that has created itself from nowhere. There are human beings that have set it up and manage it.

Most importantly, there are those that manage it in Nigeria, and they know all these. The money that comes from all the charges does not fly into the air or disappear into empty space. It enters some visible and accessible accounts managed by individuals who know how each of the charges come before entering the account.

It is a registered organisation in Nigeria that has volunteered to render services to Nigerians. It should have a human face and treat its customers with dignity and professionalism. There should be feedback mechanism so that subscribers will be able to report their poor experiences and frustrations. The way they take money from people through their very poor services makes everyone see them as fraudulent.

Yes, the service is a very good alternative to other services from other organisations that depend on the internet. This one doesn’t require the internet. It allows people to check their account balance, recharge from their bank accounts and make transfer of money. People use the service when they have no internet service or when their phone is not a smart phone. So, it is frustrating when the service providers use hidden and unexplained charges to discourage people that depend on their services.

For them, it may be an opportunity to make maximum profits and exploit those that depend on their services. But they should understand that they have breached the trust people once had in them. And once there is breach of trust in business, patronage suffers. They should understand that they have competitors who though largely depend on the internet; but with these their hidden charges and general attitude towards their subscribers, they will ultimately push away those who are loyal to them, because they have failed to build trust in those that patronise them. They need not be reminded what happens in an environment where there are competitors.

In any case, this is a way of voicing out the concerns of many other Nigerians who may have no means of voicing out their concerns on this issue or may not even know that what is happening to them is something that can be addressed, or even if they know, may have decided to endure their pain.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should please take note and correct this anomaly for the sake of many Nigerians who suffer this exploitation. This is a service that Nigerians are supposed to enjoy but the providers are now using it to extort money from those who depend on them. And if it is a service problem, they should endeavour to correct it for the benefit of those that depend on the services for their transactions.

But it is a general knowledge that it is not a problem they cannot fix, rather it appears to be something they are enjoying. I remember vividly when they started newly – that time, if a person’s transaction was not completed for service failure or whatever reason, they would later send the person a prompt to continue from where he stopped and then complete the transaction – and there would be no additional charges.

But now that they are supposed to make improvements to serve their customers better, they rather appear to be stuck somewhere, or may be creating bumps themselves that give them the leverage to take undue advantage of the vulnerability of those that use their services.

Technology the world over is advancing by the day. They can’t deny that they have access to the new technological developments or would they claim that they don’t have what it takes to employ those who can serve as operators and use such enhanced technologies to provide better services to their subscribers.

Many other organisations that aid financial transactions have employed better technologies and services. Once again, the CBN should do the needful and prevent the undue exploitation of Nigerian citizens. They should understand that millions of Nigerians are very poor and will find things extremely difficult if this exploitation should continue as the country progresses with its cashless economy policy.

Ogu, a public affairs analyst writes from Sango Ota in Ogun state.

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