A universal short code that will address Consumers’ financial complaints may soon be activated through telecom-banking collaboration between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
CBN’s Director of Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion, Dr. Aisha Isa-Olatinwo, who gave the hint at a virtual Consumer Protection Town Hall meeting recently was optimistic that the initiative would resolve challenges in the banking and telecoms ecosystem.
“We are working with the NCC to develop an industry short code enabling consumers to reach their financial institutions anytime, with or without internet access,” she said
Isa-Olatinwo added that the regulator has streamlined its internal processes and strengthened collaboration with banks to improve trust and transparency in the dispute-resolution landscape.
“While banks often insist we side with consumers 100 percent of the time, our duty is to safeguard financial system stability,” she added.
In the interest of millions of consumers, NCC and CBN have collaborated on telecom-banking to resolve failed e-transactions (airtime/data), improve service quality, and enhance consumer protection, primarily through a joint task force creating frameworks for accountability, ensuring refunds, and developing solutions like a unified short code for complaints that bypasses internet issues, bridging the gap between mobile networks and banks for a seamless user experience,