The Federal Government, through the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), has unveiled a new list of 154 fully endorsed digital money lenders who are now authorised to conduct operations within the nation.
In addition, 40 others have received conditional approval, 20 entities have been placed on the commission’s monitoring list, and nine applications have been delisted.
The government has also taken note of four entities – Fastcredit Limited, Greenbond Finance Company Limited, Baines Microfinance Bank Limited, and Ekondo Microfinance Bank Limited – which have been granted licenses by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
This announcement of approved digital money lenders comes in the wake of a recent overhaul of the digital money lending sector by the FCCPC. This move was prompted by the ongoing harassment faced by Nigerians at the hands of these lenders.
The decision follows the commission’s directive to digital money lenders, giving them a five-day window to demonstrate their compliance with the stipulated guidelines. This pronouncement had been made earlier, alongside the request for Google to remove 18 digital lending applications from the Play Store due to their undue harassment of Nigerian citizens.
Among the sanctioned loan applications in Nigeria are Clan pp, 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.
Applications that have received conditional approval include Soko Loan, Creditmoney app, Lucred app, Altara app, Rivermoney app, Indicina loan app, Growly app, Kwaba app, Helppo app, and others.
Furthermore, the FCCPC has placed certain apps under close scrutiny, including Getloan, Camelloan, Joy Cash-Loan up to 1,000,000, Nairaloan, Moneytree Finance Made Easy, Luckyloan Personal Loan, Cashme, Easynaira, Crediting, and Hen Credit Loan (Orange Loan and Purple Credit Ltd.).
Additional applications on the FCCPC watchlist encompass Nut Loan, Cash Door, Cashpal, Nairaeasy Gist Loan, Secucash, Creditbox-africa, Switfcash, Swiftkash app, Eaglecash app, and Moneytreefinance Made Easy app.
On the contrary, there is a list of apps that have been stripped of their approval (i.e., unapproved loan applications), which includes 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].
According to the FCCPC, only digital money lenders who have registered under the Limited Interim Regulatory Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending 2022 are permitted to engage in operations within the country.