The Bank of Ghana has disclosed that it is working in collaboration with telecommunication companies (telcos) to crack down on the criminal activities of those responsible for the lending apps that have emerged in recent times.
The BoG on June 14, 2023, released a list of some 97 online loan Apps, that are engaged in giving out loans through mobile applications and cautioned that their activities are in contravention of the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (930).
Meanwhile, the head of Financial Stability at the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Joseph France, who was speaking at a public forum in Accra, revealed that it has become challenging for the regulatory body to stop them because they work with some other agencies and so any time they black their SIM cards, they get new ones to continue their operations.
“They don’t do it alone, and they do it with other agencies including the telcos, and so we are also collaborating with the telcos and the NCA and all the other agencies. These numbers are often blocked, but there are impediments in the system, so you block the numbers, and they appear the next day with other numbers.”
The BoG urged the public to stop doing business with such entities because the “activities of these entities significantly breach customer data and privacy laws as well as consumer protection requirements and norms with unfavourable implications on the integrity and well-being of patrons.”
