The number of loan app companies approved by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased to 284 as of May 2024.
This was revealed by the FCCPC in its updated list of approved digital lenders. As of March this year, the number of approved companies stood at 266.
The list comprises companies that have been given full approval, conditional approval, and those licensed by the CBN. According to the FCCPC database, a total of 232 companies have been granted full approval to operate as digital lenders in the country while 41 companies have conditional approval.
The FCCPC listed 11 other companies licensed by the CBN to operate loan apps, making a total of 284 approved digital lenders for the Nigerian market.
Surge in loan apps
With the increase in the number of approved digital lenders, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of loan apps offering instant loans to Nigeria. This is because many of the approved digital lenders operate multiple loan apps.
- For instance, Acetech Finance Limited, one of the lenders approved by the FCCPC, operates through 8 different loan apps, which include Kashout, Flashcredit, Flashalart, Swiftcredit, Rapidloans, Acecredit, Aceloan, and Rapidalarts.
- Similarly, Newedge Finance Limited, which is licensed by the CBN operates through Palm Credit, New Credit, Easybuy, Xcross Cash, and XCash apps.
- The latest figures show that the FCCPC has continued to approve more digital lenders even as it struggles to bring the existing players under control.
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The multiplicity of the apps being used by digital lenders is cited as one of the reasons the Commission is finding it difficult to curtail the incidences of harassment and defaming of borrowers by digital lenders.
