Ecobank says access to its USSD shortcode is free

Ecobank Nigeria on Thursday said access to its *326# Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) shortcode is at zero cost to all users.

The Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan, declared this at the ongoing 2019 Nigeria Fintech Week in Lagos.

According to him, all stakeholders must come together to make USSD shortcode services free to all users, as a key initiative to drive financial inclusion in the country.

He said that for the industry to grow, all stakeholders should allow consumers to access banking and financial services such as the USSD shortcodes free of charge, to deepen financial inclusion and further drive the nation’s economic development.

He urged stakeholders to adopt the strategy of shared infrastructure that will enable easy compliance to risk and regulatory policies.

Akinwuntan said that skills development is at the top of core requirements for successful digital platform proliferation.

“When the ecosystem comes together, we can unlock value for all partners and ensure rapid innovation. Clients’ data protection and the professional handling of this data are key to instilling consumer confidence in the system, and the entire ecosystem is only as strong as its weakest link.

“All participants need to adopt world-class standards for ensuring cybersecurity for the good of our customers,” he noted.

The Ecobank boss said, in order to achieve a digitized Africa, countries must have positive regulatory oversight that encourages and facilitates collaboration amongst all stakeholders to unleash value which will include the much-needed investment in awareness and digital payment usage.

Also speaking at the event, the President of the Fintech Association of Nigeria, Dr Segun Aina, said the Nigeria Fintech Week brings together various organizations and individuals in the disruptive technology ecosystem both within and outside Nigeria.

“With the quality, diversity and comprehensiveness of the Nigeria Fintech Week, this annual event has obviously received overwhelming market acceptance and endorsement as the main annual Fintech and digital stakeholder platform to look forward to.

“We, therefore, expect all stakeholders to use the Nigeria Fintech Week as the main annual platform to showcase Nigerians’ creativity and remarkable exploits in value-enhancing Fintech products and services”, he said.