REGULATION | Bank of Ghana to Intensify Crackdown on Illegal Lending Apps

Kwame Oppong, Head of Fintech and Innovation at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has announced that the central bank of Ghana is ramping up its efforts to combat illegal lending applications operating within the country.

Oppong highlighted that these unauthorized apps present a serious risk to both consumers and the financial system. He explained that these apps often collect personal information and photos from users during registration. When borrowers fail to repay their loans, the apps misuse this data to threaten and intimidate them.

Disturbingly, there have been reports of borrowers facing such severe harassment that some have tragically taken their own lives.

Addressing the MoMo@15 Fintech Stakeholders’ Forum hosted by MobileMoney Limited (MTN MoMo), Oppong emphasized the BoG’s zero-tolerance policy towards unauthorized financial products that threaten the stability of the financial sector. He firmly stated that the central bank will persist in its crackdown on these exploitative apps.

“These actions are both unethical and illegal,” Oppong asserted.

“We will not permit unauthorized lending apps to exploit individuals and undermine the financial system.”

The Bank of Ghana’s heightened focus on these illegal apps is part of its broader commitment to safeguarding consumers and maintaining a secure and stable financial environment in Ghana.

The move follows a similar one by the Central Bank of Kenya which published official regulations to protect consumers from digital lenders following complains from Kenyans about some lending apps using their phone contacts to reach out to friends and family with the apps asking a defaulter’s contacts to remind him or her to pay his loans.

At that time [2022], the CBK listed the guidelines governing digital lenders as follows:

• Lenders will not use obscene or profane language with the customer or the customer’s contacts for purposes of shaming them
• Lenders will not use threat, violence, or other means to harm a customer, or his reputation or property if they do not settle their loans.
• Lenders are barred from posting a customer’s personal or sensitive information online or on any other forum or medium for purposes of shaming them.
• They will not engage in any other conduct whose consequence is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of a debt.