The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has taken significant steps to regulate the digital lending sector in Nigeria, issuing a fresh list of approved 154 loan app companies to operate in the country.
According to the commission, this new list is more comprehensive than the previous one, as it now includes the specific loan apps operated by each approved company.
This move aims to provide transparency to customers, allowing them to identify the companies behind the apps they use, thereby reducing cases of app duplicity by these companies.
In addition to the 154 companies with full approval, the FCCPC has granted conditional approval to 40 other companies, bringing the total number of recognised loan app companies to 194.
The approved loan apps in Nigeria include the Nextpayday app, Palmcredit app, Flypay app, Paylater app, Moneypal app, Goloan app, Sycamore app, Branch Mobile app, Fairmoney app, Regxta app, Carbon app, and more.
Also, apps with conditional approvals include Soko Loan, Creditmoney app, Lucred app, Altara app, Rivermoney app, Indicina loan app, Growly app, Kwaba app, Helppo app, and more.
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To further curtail unethical practices within the digital lending space, the commission has released a watchlist comprising 20 loan apps suspected of engaging in such practices. Notably, the FCCPC recently requested Google to remove some of these apps from the Play Store.
The loan apps under the watchlist include Getloan, Joy Cash-Loan, Camelloan, Cashlawn, Nairaloan, Eaglecash, Moneytreefinance Made Easy, Luckyloan, Cashme, Crediting, Swiftkash, Hen Credit loan, Nut loan, Cash door, Cashpal, Nairaeasy gist loan, Swiftcash, Easynaira, Secucash, and Creditbox-Africa.
Babatunde Irukera, FCCPC’s chief executive officer said “The FCCPC has an ongoing engagement with Google to address this issue and ensure that only apps with regulatory approvals are accessible on the platform.”
According to Irukera, compliance with the Guidelines set by the FCCPC is mandatory for all Digital Money Lenders (DMLs), regardless of their distribution method. Failure to comply constitutes a violation of the law and renders the operation illegal.
The commission noted that it had delisted nine unapproved loan apps, which include Wiftkash app, Hen Credit Loan App, Cash Door app, Joy cash-loan up to 1,000,000 app, Eaglecash app, Luckyloan Personal loan app, Getloan app, Easeloan apps, and Xgo Finance Limited [Xcredit, Naira Naija, Imoneyplus-Instant, Nairanaija-Instant, Nownowmoney, Naija Cash].
“It’s essential for digital money lenders to adhere to the Limited Interim Regulatory Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending 2022 to operate legally in Nigeria,” it said.
In addition, the federal government through the FCCPC and the Central Bank of Nigeria is actively regulating and licencing the digital lenders sector in Nigeria. The recent actions taken by the FCCPC aim to safeguard Nigerian consumers from harassment by lenders and ensure a fair and transparent lending environment.
