Fakoyejo OlalekanThe Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has deleted the list of Digital Money Lenders (DML) approved to offer quick loan services in Nigeria.
In a statement on its website, FCCPC said the list is being reviewed “The list is undergoing a clean-up and will be made available as soon as possible,” the commission said.
FCCPC took down the list after an investigation into the operations of the loan apps in Nigeria, which showed that some lending services are still breaching the regulation that forbids them from harassing their customers.
The commission revealed after the probe that Getloan and Camelloan duplicated their apps, operating a Google Playstore app and Android Package Kits (APK) file formats.
While their Google Play Store apps comply with the regulation set by FCCPC and Google, which restrict them from accessing their users’ contacts and prohibits them from harassing their customers, the quick credit providers are using the APK to avoid the regulations.
“The Commission notes a resurgence in the occurrence of prohibited loan recovery methods and practices in the past weeks. The Commission’s investigations and continuing surveillance demonstrate that the vast majority of the resurging infringements are not by otherwise approved/listed DMLs approved to be on Playstore and other financial services providers.
“The violating DMLs have resorted to the use of Android Package Kits (APK) file formats. The illegal DMLs provide links to consumers to visit unregistered websites using their Android devices/phones. In the course of that interaction, consumers’ private information that is otherwise protected and prohibited from access or download by DMLs or their apps is accessed and downloaded. This conduct is prohibited by sundry laws, particularly relevant data privacy protection instruments, and more specifically, the Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework & Guidelines for Digital Lending 2020 of the Commission.
“In the course of the Commission’s continuing investigation and tracking of these illegally operating DMLs, the Commission has discovered duplicity by at least two otherwise legally registered DMLs on the Commission’s approval list. The nature of the duplicity is that the DMLs having been approved and placed on the approved list and Playstore, as well as cleared for services by other financial services/institutions, as an alternate channel, and method of engaging in prohibited conduct, also engaged in the use of APK to attract borrowers to a process and practice that is illegal and unregulated,” FCCPC disclosed in a report after its investigation.
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