The Bank of Ghana has flagged 19 illegal money lending institutions and advised the public to desist from doing business with them.
This followed an observation that a number of unlicensed entities are engaged in the provision of loans to the Ghanaian public, in contravention of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).
“These illegal entities mostly employ the use of mobile applications and social media in their activities” the Bank noted.
In a notice to the public and all financial institutions, the Central Bank said these unauthorised entities’ activities amount to non-adherence to the consumer protection requirements and abuse of customer data and privacy laws.
The 19 unlicensed entities and their online platforms include SikaPurse Quick Online loan, 4Cedi Instant Mobile loan application, Zidisha Online Loans, GhanaLending Application, ChasteLoan Application and LoanClub-Ghana Instant Loan.
Others are AdamfoPa Loan, MetaLending- Instant Cash Loan, Wohiasika Loan (Ghanaloan.net), Boseafie – Bosea Micro-Credit, SikaKasa Online Lending, LoanPro – digital and instant loan and SikaWura Loan Application.
The rest are, BegyeBosea Loan, LendingPapa – Online Loans, CrestCash Loan, Credxter – Loans and Hire- Purchase, MobiLoan Application and Cedi Now – Cash Loans Application.
“Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions, as well as payment service providers, are advised not to facilitate the illegal transactions of the unlicensed loan providers” the notice read.
The Bank assured the public that it was taking steps to take action against these entities.