The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has released a new list of 154 companies which has been approved to fully operate as loan apps in the country.
This is in furtherance of the investigation by the Joint Regulatory and Enforcement Task Force (JRETF) into possible violation of privacy and other rights by digital money lenders (DMLs), it has resumed the registration of digital money lending Apps under the Limited Interim Regulatory Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending 2022.
According to FCCPC, aside from the companies given full approval, 40 other companies have been issued conditional approval. This brings the total loan app companies recognized by the FCCPC to 194.
The list of the 154 companies fully approved and the 40 with conditional approval include Creditwave Finance Limited (Web Portal App), Ucplus Advance Limited (UC Salary Loan, Kashnow Apps), Renners Investment Limited (Renners App), Zuvy Technologies Limited (Zuvy.co) and Credit Clan Tech Limited (ClanApp).
Others are NextPayDay Limit (NextPayDay App), Aladdin Scheme Limited (Aladdin Digital App), Kobogo Nigeria Limited (Kobogo App), PaylaterHub Limited (Paylater App), Trade Depot Limited (Shoptopup App) among others.
Some of the companies with conditional approval include Lucred Technology Limited (Lucred App), Rexcredit Limited (RexAfrica App), Finpadi Technologies Limited (Finpadi App), One Payout Limited 9Yanzu Kredit App) and Grit Tech Limited (Grit Tech Loan App) among others.
The release of apps associated with the companies will allow customers to identify the companies behind the app they are using and also curtail cases of app duplicity by the companies.
The Commission said it has also placed 20 loan apps suspected of engaging in unethical practices under its watchlist. These apps include those it recently requested Google to remove from the Play Store.
According to the FCCPC, the loan apps that have been placed under the watch list include Getloan, Joy Cash-Loan, Camelloan, Cashlawn, Nairaloan, Eaglecash, Moneytreefinance Made Easy, Luckyloan, and Cashme.
Others are Crediting, Swiftkash, Hen Credit loan, Nut loan, Cash door, Cashpal, Nairaeasy gist loan, Swiftcash, Easynaira, Secucash, and Creditbox-Africa.
However in a recent post, the Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, disclosed that many unapproved loan apps are still available on the Google Play Store, despite an agreement with Google that they should be removed.
Irukera said the Commission would continue to engage with Google to clarify how and why apps that have not received relevant regulatory approvals are available on Google’s platform.
Under the Guidelines, only DMLs that have been subjected to regulatory scrutiny and compliance evidenced by written approval from the Commission are allowed on Playstore. The Commission notes that some DMLs have resorted to the use of Android Package Kits (APK) file formats to reach consumers outside of the Google Play Store.