LAGOS – As the January 5th deadline given by Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to Digital, Electronic, Online and Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations, 2025 to register and get approval to operate lapses a total of 521 digital lender companies are now under the regulatory purview of the Commission as the consumer watchdog moves to sanitise Nigeria’s fast-growing digital credit market.
With the deadline now passed, the regulator’s records indicate a significant increase in the number of companies submitting to oversight, reflecting both heightened enforcement and the rapid expansion of Nigeria’s digital lending ecosystem.
FCCPC’s database shows that out of the 521 registered companies, 457 of them have been given full approval by the Commission, while 35 of them have secured conditional approval from the Commission.
There are 29 others licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) but still under the FCCPC’s regulatory framework.
The Commission said 103 loan apps operated by unregistered companies have been placed under its watchlist for regulatory actions despite the large number of registered lenders.
The Commission has repeatedly warned that any digital lender operating outside its approval framework risks sanctions, including delisting of loan apps from digital platforms, monetary penalties, and potential prosecution.
Industry stakeholders say the rise to 521 registered digital lenders highlights the scale of Nigeria’s consumer credit market, but also raises questions about effective supervision as the sector grows.
Mr. Adewale Adeoye, a Lagos-based financial analyst, observed that while the FCCPC is doing its best to sanitise the digital lending space through regulations and guidelines, enforcement might become a challenge given the large number of players in the industry.
“Don’t forget that the FCCPC’s mandate covers consumer protection across all sectors of the economy, and the digital lending is just a minute part of it.
Monitoring over 500 registered companies alone requires a lot of capacity, yet there are hundreds of others operating illegally that need to be dealt with,” he said.
Mr Adeoye added that beyond loan apps, the new guidelines also expand the regulatory purview of the FCCPC to lenders that are not using apps, which could make oversight more challenging.
Mr. Gbemi Adelekan, the President of the Money Lenders Association (MLA), also acknowledged that enforcement could be overwhelming for the FCCPC because of the number of players.
According to him, the new guidelines also extend FCCPC’s oversight to IT platforms supporting the digital lenders, which makes the Commission’s role more complicated.
He noted that the Commission has been responsive to the industry issues.
Image Credit: THE INDEPENDENT
Source: https://independent.ng/
