The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening consumer protection, combating fraud, and unlocking opportunities across the telecommunications and financial services sectors.
This was disclosed in a statement released on Monday by the Head of Public Affairs Department at the NCC, Nnenna Ukoha.
According to the statement, the agreement was formalised alongside the inauguration of two joint committees: the Joint Committee on Payment Systems and Consumer Protection, and the Joint Committee on Telecoms Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS) Portal.
Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, said the partnership creates a structured framework for collaboration in areas such as payment system integrity, fraud mitigation, digital inclusion, and protection of consumers as well as micro, small and medium enterprises.
He cited the recent resolution of the long standing USSD debt dispute between telecom operators and banks as evidence of the value of coordinated regulation.
The signing of the MoU comes as the latest in the series of collaborative efforts by the two regulatory bodies.
In February this year, the NCC and the CBN proposed regular joint audits of banks, telecom operators and other ecosystem players as part of a new national framework aimed at tackling persistent failures in airtime and data purchase transactions.
In an exposure draft jointly issued by the two regulators and dated February 5, 2026, the regulators are seeking to address rising consumer complaints linked to failed airtime and data purchases where customers’ bank accounts are debited without successful service delivery.
Under the draft framework, the regulators intend to institutionalise clear accountability across the financial and telecommunications value chains, enforce uniform resolution timelines, and strengthen consumer redress mechanisms.
Maida said one of the major outcomes of the partnership is the rollout of the TIRMS Portal, which will provide financial institutions with better access to telecom related risk data.
He explained that the portal aggregates information on churned or recycled phone numbers, as well as numbers flagged within the financial sector.
This means banks and other financial institutions can verify whether a phone line is active, swapped, disconnected due to inactivity, reassigned to a new subscriber, or flagged for suspicious activity.
Also speaking, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, said the MoU will strengthen coordination between both regulators on approvals, technical standards, innovation trials, and sandbox testing.
He said the collaboration would support market led solutions while maintaining financial system stability.
In January this year, the NCC and CBN as part of their joint regulatory efforts, introduced a new consumer refund framework that guarantees subscribers a refund within 30 seconds for failed airtime and data transactions.
The framework was designed to address cases where customers are debited without receiving value.
The framework also strengthens consumer notification rules and resolves long-standing issues around erroneous and misdirected airtime and data purchases.
