Chijioke Dozie, the co-founder & CEO of Carbon, one of the licensed digital lending platforms in Nigeria, has said that many Nigerians patronise loan sharks because they do not understand the difference between regulated and unregulated ones.
According to him, at the point of seeking loans, many are only interested in any platform that can give them the money and care less about whether such loan app is regulated or not.
While noting that the loan sharks challenge is a global issue as there are people who would always want to prey on vulnerable people in every society, Dozie said that knowing the difference between the regulated and unregulated platforms would deter many from patronizing those that would be blackmailing them to retrieve loans.
To address this challenge, Dozie said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would have to embark on financial education to let Nigerians know the implications of taking loans from unlicensed operators.
What Carbon CEO is saying
Speaking on the menace of loan sharks in an interview with Nairametrics, Dozie said: “This is an issue that is happening across the world. And this is because there are people that will always want to prey on vulnerable people in every society. If you look at India, for instance, the country recently shut down over 100 Chinese apps. The Reserve Bank of India is also tackling this problem. So, this is not unique to Nigeria.”
“The reason this continues to be a challenge is that Nigerian customers don’t differentiate between a regulated lender or bank versus a non-regulated lender. They just want money. For instance, If I want N200,000, my concern is who is willing to give it to me. I don’t care whether regulated or not regulated.
“This is also a problem for us that are regulated because people see us as the same as the loan sharks. We’re regulated, we have to go through CBN examinations and we do CBN returns every year. As a regulated lender, before we give out loans, we have to check whether you are credit-worthy or not through the credit bureaus. A lot of these unregulated guys aren’t doing any of these things,” he stated
“So, I think what the regulator can do to help us is financial education. We need a lot of financial education for Nigerians to understand these things and know the difference between regulated lenders and loan sharks. With financial literacy, we will not totally eliminate loan sharks but hopefully, we will reduce the incidences in the future,” he added.
What you should know
- The Nigerian government has continued to clamp down on the unregulated lending companies known as loan sharks through the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC)
- In its latest action, the Commission ordered Google to remove 4 loan apps, which include Maxi Credit, Here4U, ChaCha, and SoftPay from its Play Store. These apps were discovered to be among those blackmailing their borrowers and engaging in other unethical practices.
- However, operations of the loan sharks continue despite the government’s efforts. While some platforms are not even listed on the app stores to avoid clamping down, several new apps are coming up by the day claiming to provide collateral-free loans to Nigerians.
Infact it’s really embarrassing and very disheartening d way d so called loan sharks do destroy pple, their interest is too much, they collected almost x2 of d.loam taken for 7 days and if.u.dont.pay d very.day u are due.they will declared that person wanted, pls.govt.and d regulated body should.do something, they are not helping pple.at all
Carbon company also a player in the game.
There own comes a way whereby the beneficiary will be forced to let go.
Am a victim so I don’t trust them
There’s nothing like regulated loan shark in Nigeria, they all do what they like, hike interest the way it profits them. If they were regulated how come carbon and fair money interest rates not the same??? We’re the ones killing ourselves in our country
I am not aware that there is a credit bureau in Nigeria, a country that lacks a citizens’ database structure.
I have had three queries in form of text messages from these shark loan companies asking that I should get their client who had provided my details as guarantor without first informing me, to ask them to pay up. It is embarrassing as well as annoying, so I simply ignore the messages and watch. How could they give out loans without first checking with those whosr details were provided as guarantors, or carrying out a proper assessment of the applicant?
I will appreciate it if government can close up this loan sharks. They are indeed sharks. I Know what they did to my sister. They sent messages to her contacts , it wasn’t funny, she is yet to get through with them.
If banks and the government lend to the people, these demons wouldn’t exist. People collect these loans out of pressure and are pressurized and harrassed by the so called customer care for repayment… It’s pathetic for a country that’s supposed to have regulatory bodies
Only greedy people borrow from loan Sharks.
Why must you borrow in the first place, how about saving up, instead of borrowing
Atleast you are doing well nah a man had to go through a lot to provide for you that’s why you talking trash about saving up from how much salary nah or you have never got yourself into trouble where you have to burrow to get out of it
Is quite unfortunate that Chinese people are seriously exploiting us. And the funniest thing is that they are using our fellow citizens to insults Nigerians who are victims.
Alot have gone into depression, some çommits suicide, some sold off their properties because of their evil threat.
These loans app must be well investigated and be ban if possible.
Lucky loan
Aimloan
Docredit loan
Rush credit
Cash key
Cash frame
Nigcash
Federal government must help her citizens.
The situation is so bad, people are just trying to survive anyhow.
Thank you.
Federal Government should Ban DIDI CASH LOAN. These guys are terrible. I collected loan of 10k from them. On the due date around 7am. The agent told me to pay back before 10am. I told him to give me till 12pm during break in my office I’ll go out and pay through POS. He refused and insisted I should leave the office and pay in the money before 10a. I pleaded he refused. By 11am. He sent a defamatory messages to all contacts telling them I had HIV and ran away from the health center… Imagine the level of foolish Nigerians who are working for the useless Chinese loan companies… FCCPC pls close down DIDICASH..
Loan sharks are a menace to the society