FCCPC deletes list of approved loan apps after investigation

The list of approved loan apps in Nigeria has been deleted from the website of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

FCCPC said it deleted the list to clean up the register: “The list is undergoing a clean-up and will be made available as soon as possible,” the commission wrote on its website in a notice seen on Wednesday, but dated July 21, 2023.

Recall that the commission revealed that some registered Digital Money Lenders (DML) apps cleared to operate quick loans in Nigeria have duplicated their apps by operating an Android app on Google Playstore and Android Package Kits (APK) file formats.

FCCPC said Sycamore Integrated Solutions Limited and Orange Loan and Purple Credit Limited, owners of “Getloan” and “Camelloan”, respectively, were discovered to be operating duplicated apps to bypass regulations and requirements for loan apps.

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The commission conducted an investigation in July before deleting the list to review the registered loan apps on its Approved List.

After the investigation, FCCPC said: “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.”

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