Close Menu
Quick Loan ArenaQuick Loan Arena
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Join Us
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Quick Loan ArenaQuick Loan Arena
    • Home
    • Customer Review
    • Business Review
    • Financial Review
    • Loan Review
    Quick Loan ArenaQuick Loan Arena
    Home»Loan Review»Nigeria cracks down on digital lending platforms over data privacy invasion
    Loan Review

    Nigeria cracks down on digital lending platforms over data privacy invasion

    Femi AdeoyaBy Femi AdeoyaOctober 10, 2023No Comments3 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    lending apps for quick loan in Nigeria
    lending apps for quick loan in Nigeria
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Nigerian loan apps and digital lending platforms that send messages to their debtors’ contacts could be prosecuted for invasion of privacy going forward.

    Contents hide
    1 Nigeria cracks down on digital lending platforms over data privacy invasion
    2 Loan apps in Nigeria threatening to ruin customers
    3 Stepping up on data protection: Data privacy violations by loan apps is not a Nigerian problem alone.

    Nigeria cracks down on digital lending platforms over data privacy invasion

    In an announcement last week, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said it has received 40 petitions from the public about companies that abuse user data and it appears the agency has started acting on such complaints. In August, NITDA imposed a 10 million naira ($24,000) fine on Soko Lending Company, owners of sokoloan – an app launched in Sept. 2018 that has over 1 million downloads on Google Play Store (but which appears to been taken down as of press time.)

    NITDA, Nigeria’s de facto tech regulator, says it is worried about the harm caused by money lenders like sokoloan. And so it is teaming up with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council, Nigeria’s consumer protection and antitrust watchdog, to enforce privacy rights in accordance with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) enacted in 2019.

    Loan apps in Nigeria threatening to ruin customers

    Because Nigerian banks prefer to lend to businesses and not individuals, new companies have filled the gap by offering quick loans through smartphone apps. Startups like Carbon, Branch, and Fairmoney started as simple app-based money lenders before their recent transitions to becoming digital-banks that offer other services. For the most part, these venture-backed (and in Carbon’s case, profitable) companies largely maintain a good reputation with customers and are licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    But there has been a new surge in loan apps, with practically a new one popping up on YouTube ads every other week. Some of these apps have quickly become notorious for threatening users with reputational damage in order to get those users to repay loans.

    In one instance, a debt officer for iMoney, an app that has been downloaded over 1 million times on Play Store, sent this to a debtor: “I will send your names to all your contacts and destroy you if you want me to lose my job since you won’t pay on time.” In another case of a borrower who was one week late for a N100,000 ($240) payment, sokoloan supposedly sent messages to his contacts describing him as a “chronic debtor and a fraudster.”

    Stepping up on data protection: Data privacy violations by loan apps is not a Nigerian problem alone.

    In Kenya, loan apps have been known to offer quick money at high interest rates at the cost of user privacy. Last week, Kenya’s data protection commissioner, Immaculate Kassait, said an undisclosed number of digital lenders was being investigated for using shame tactics to recover loans.

    With Nigeria also promising a crackdown, African regulators appear to be signaling a new era for the still emerging digital lending landscape: one where startups are prevented from degrading a welcome innovation that has eased access to credit to a situation where loan sharks go to extremes to intimidate borrowers.

    Source: The Quartz Africa Weekly

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Femi Adeoya
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • X (Twitter)

    Mr Femi Adeoya is a Chartered Forensic Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner. He has over 20 years professional work experience in accounting, finance and business management processes. As an Accounting Software Expert, he has implemented and supervised accounting solution set up of over 50 small and medium businesses in Nigeria. As a passionate blogger, Mr Adeoya is an ardent writer and communicationist. He is the CEO of QUICK LOAN ARENA (quickloanarena.com), the number 1 loan apps review website in Nigeria. He is very passionate about the quick and instant loan industry in Nigeria and has written over 200 reviews on different loan apps and digital banks in Nigeria, USA, Canada and UK.

    Related Posts

    US, Ukraine relations hit brick wall as Trump calls Zelenskyy a “dictator”

    February 19, 2025

    Best 6 Legit Bad Credit Loans Ireland 2025

    January 18, 2025

    Draper $10,000 physical therapy loan review 2025

    January 18, 2025

    Top 14 best instant payday loans UK 2025

    January 18, 2025
    Add A Comment
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Recent Posts
    • Dollar to Naira Black Market Exchange Rate 15th May 2025
    • How Skytrend Consulting is changing the face of accounting automation in Nigeria
    • SMEs, MSMEs get 80% discount on accounting automation as Skytrend kickstarts Easter promo
    • US, Ukraine relations hit brick wall as Trump calls Zelenskyy a “dictator”
    • Inflation rebasing not a sign of drop in prices, better economy – LCCI
    © 2025 Quick Loan Arena Maintained by Sendfix Digitals
    • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Join Us

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.