Nigerian Government Delists 37 Loan Apps, Puts Others On Watch-List

The Nigerian government has delisted 37 suspicious loan apps, according to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s new report.

The number of fully approved loan apps also grew to 164 from 154 as of its last updates from the FCCPC website on Monday.

Meanwhile, the number of loan apps with conditional approval declined to 38 from 40, and the number of apps on the commission’s watchlist grew to 56 from 20.

This followied a sustained shakeup of the digital money lending space by the FCCPC, after harassment of Nigerians by the lenders.

According to the commission, delisted loan apps were permanently deleted by Google from Play Store.
It stated that the list of delisted apps included, “Swiftkash 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, Naira Naija, Cashlawn App, Easynaira App, Crediting App, Yoyi App, Nut Loan App, Cashpal App, Nairaeasy Gist Loan App, Camelloan App, Nairaloan App,  Moneytreefinance Made Easy App
“Cashme App, Secucash App, Creditbox App, Cashmama App, Crimson Credit App, Galaxy Credit App, Ease Cash App, Xcredit, Imoney, Naira Naija, Imoneyplus-Instant, Nairanaija-Instant, Nownowmoney, Naija Cash, Eagle Cash, Firstnell App, Flypay, and Spark Credit.”

SaharaReporters had on August 2 reported that the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government asked Google to remove 18 digital loan apps from its Play store.

The government made the demand through the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), saying that the identified apps are operating on the Google Play store without regulatory approval or in violation of the Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending, 2022 (Guidelines).

The commission had stated that only digital money lenders that had regulatory scrutiny and compliance evidenced by written approval from it are allowed on Play store.

The FCCPC had said that compliance with its guidelines is mandatory for all digital money lenders, and failure to comply is a violation of the law, adding that infractions or infringements may lead to permanent delisting and prohibition, as well as law enforcement action, including prosecution.