A post has been making the rounds that the Central Bank of Nigeria introduced an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) process for bank users to block their accounts when their phone is stolen or notice any form of compromise in deductions. *The claim is PARTLY TRUE … but …*
Here is what we know …
Research shows that similar Facebook posts and news stories from blogs were first posted in 2021.
When the USSD was also searched on google, it brought out a blog post on one of the new generation bank’s official websites that announced the launch of the code.
The post stated that the bank became the first Nigerian Bank to successfully launch its USSD account control code, “*966*911#.”
It said, “this unique code stops unauthorized transactions and protects the account holder’s funds in the event of mobile phone, ATM Card or hardware token loss as well as account details compromise.”
Conclusion
Though the USSD code that freezes bank accounts when it is compromised does exist, it was launched by one of the commercial Banks and not the CBN.
