Banks urged to strengthen e-payment channels as crises slow transactions

Nigerians continue to struggle with the USSD codes *966#, *894#, *737#, #*919#, and *711#.
Financial institutions have been advised to strengthen their e-payment platforms as more Nigerians turn to electronic payment methods due to severe cash shortages in the economy.

PPC Limited, Nigeria’s lCT and Infrastructure Development Company, gave this advice over the weekend. Dr. Patrick Ede, Director of Operations and Head of the ICT Division at PPC, noted that a number of failed and unsuccessful transactions are being brought on by the inadequacy of the e-payment channels to withstand the flood of transactions orchestrated by the surge in the use of such channels for payment.

He continued by saying that because the nation’s banks were never prepared for the level of surge they are currently experiencing, the congestion and ensuing system outages are adversely affecting the commercial activities of merchants as transactions have become slow, delayed, and occasionally incomplete. ​

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The ICT specialist urged banks to take action to ensure that all electronic payment channels function simultaneously, quickly, and efficiently.
According to Ede, “increased investment in dependable payment systems that quickly process transactions is necessary given the rising demand on banks’ digital channels.

“To alleviate the congestion on payment channels, banks should carry out an audit of payment channels to identify gaps and loopholes in the system with a view to phased resolution. This first step will ensure that banks raise the standards of experiences they provide to customers and ensure that customers remain at the centre of their business models.”

He urged banks to consider upgrading their ​server, network and hardware infrastructure to handle peak-time​ operations, adding that this move will ensure that all electronic payment channels can process transactions swiftly and efficiently.

Ede advised the financial institutions to enhance their security protocols to ensure that all electronic payment channels are secure, protect customer data and prevent fraud.

According to him, there may also be a need for financial institutions to expand their existing payment channels to accommodate more transactions. Ede said PPC’s expertise in the deployment of high-end ICT and engineering infrastructure has assisted several organisations in the public and private sectors to create secure, robust and scalable systems suitable for a broad range of commercial uses.

Indeed, it is not yet uhuru for Nigerians, especially with the use of the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platforms in the last three weeks.

USSD banking is an SMS-based mobile banking service, where a USSD short code is used to access financial services like transfers, bill payments, and airtime recharges, among others.

Due to their inability to obtain cash over the counter in the banking halls, along with the fact that the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) refused to dispense cash and the Point of Sales (PoS) terminals are now a no-go area due to the exorbitant service charge by the merchants, many bank customers switched to the USSD platforms to conduct financial transactions.

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It was learned that some USSD transactions, which could take up to 30 minutes to deliver, that seemed to have gone through on these platforms were later found to have failed.

Nigerians have trouble with a number of USSD codes, including *966#, *894#, *737#, #*919#, and *711#. On these platforms, there have been numerous reports of failed transactions due to the ongoing cash shortage.