The Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Babatunde Irukera, has said that the Commission was astounded by the sheer volume of digital money lenders operating in Nigeria.
He claimed that the recently finished registration, in which 173 money lenders registered themselves, provided a clearer picture of the number of businesses present in the market.
Irukera said the Commission found there are over 200 digital money lending organizations in Nigeria during the registration. He claimed that several of them began the registration process but were unable to finish it before the March 27 deadline.
However, Irukera noted that not all of the listed businesses had started lending.
“Due to some registrations being incomplete, many persons did not register in time. Indeed, the first deadline was January 31. We were actually taken aback by the sheer number of digital lenders that were out there, probably well over 200.
“We didn’t believe there were that many of them. Nonetheless, the framework has also attracted some honorable individuals who genuinely wanted to enter the industry but wished for a respectable and open framework. And just because there are a lot of them doesn’t necessarily indicate that they are all lending. Some individuals are also obtaining permits to prepare for their businesses.”
Irukera claimed that the development and persistence of loan and recovery practices which have evolved into abusive and abuses of people’s privacy have prompted the FCCPC and other government organizations to create the registry. In order to address this, he claimed the FCCPC headed an interagency team that included the ICPC, CBN EFCC, and NCC.
“So, what we did was create a framework that required us to understand the market participants who they were, what they were doing, where their money came from, what kinds of interest rates they were charging, and how forthcoming they were with their clients.
“We also want to limit what kind of information they are able to pull off people’s phones and what they are able to do with that information,” he said. “This is especially true with respect to making contact with people on the contact list, and their loan recovery practices; the kind of language, the times they call, what kind of things they say.”
“Accordingly, the businesses that have been registered as of late are those who have offered the transparency and data necessary to sufficiently substantiate their claims. Because we understand that the Play Store is one of the most crucial channels for them to spread and reach their target audience, we have also teamed up with Google to ensure that only businesses who are permitted under the framework may go on there,” Irukera added.
The CEO of the FCCPC pointed out that while registration does not guarantee that all of the companies are law-abiding, it will dramatically lessen the amount of law-breaking they conduct. He claims that the Commission can easily track down registered companies using the information they provide and hold them accountable if they break the law.
