MTN on April 2, 2021, had the sales of its products through its banking channel partners suspended. Services were however restored on Sunday, April 4, 2021, with customers able to access all services. This was agreed on the basis that MTN would revert to its previous cost of sales structures with banking partners until a new long-term agreement can be reached on a sustainable pricing structure going forward.
Consequent to the intervention of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, the Nigeria Communication Commission, and the Central Bank of Nigeria, since April 6, 2021, MTN has been participating in a series of meetings to align on longer-term pricing structures.
The bank pledged to give a further market update once these discussions have been concluded. The streamlining MTN undertook is international standard and best practice as scale is built along distribution channels.
MTN in a release said, “We are confident that partners in the banking sector will work with us to ensure this process concludes as quickly as possible to the benefit of the entire industry.
“MTN would like to thank our customers for their patience, and express our regret at the inconvenience imposed on them while banking channels were offline. To further expand the range of channels available to customers, MTN has activated several new channel partnerships with fintech partners and these will remain in place, significantly expanding the channels available to our customers and increasing our sales and distribution network.”
The new channel partners include Sparkle, Konga Pay, Barter By Flutter Wave, Jumia Pay, OPay, Kuda, Carbon, BillsnPay, MTN On-Demand, MTN Xtratime airtime loans (*606#), myMTN Web http://mymtn.com.ng and Momo agent *223#.
“We would also like to thank the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the Nigeria Communication Commission, and the Central Bank of Nigeria for their rapid intervention and we look forward to a mutually acceptable solution that empowers all ecosystem participants,” the company added.
