‘No Hiding Place’: FCCPC Begins Clampdown on 100+ Illegal Loan Apps as Deadline Expires

ABUJA — The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has officially commenced a sweeping enforcement exercise against over 100 digital money lenders (DMLs) that failed to meet the January 5, 2026 deadline for full regulatory compliance.

The Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Mr. Tunji Bello, confirmed on Thursday that the grace period is over and that the agency has moved from “advocacy to action” to sanitize the digital lending space.

This new phase of enforcement targets loan apps that operate without registration, harass borrowers with defamatory messages, and violate consumer privacy by accessing contacts and photo galleries.

The “Clean-Up” Begins

Speaking at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja, Bello revealed that the FCCPC has already directed Google and Apple to immediately remove non-compliant apps from their stores. Additionally, payment service providers (PSPs) have received orders to cease processing transactions for these blacklisted entities.

“We gave them ample time to regularize their operations under the 2025 Digital Lending Regulations,” Bello stated. “The January 5 deadline was sacrosanct. Any operator that is not on our approved list as of today is operating illegally and will face the full weight of the law.”

The Commission estimates that while 457 companies have secured full approval, over 100 “rogue” operators remain on the watchlist for continuing to engage in “debt-shaming” and predatory pricing.

Stiff Penalties

The clampdown comes with severe financial consequences for violators. Under the new Digital, Electronic, Online and Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025, non-compliant companies face:

• Fines: Penalties of up to ₦100 million or 1% of their annual turnover.
• Director Disqualification: Company directors found guilty of privacy breaches risk bans from holding board positions in the financial sector.
• Criminal Prosecution: Immediate prosecution of promoters behind apps that persist in using unethical recovery methods.

New Rules of Engagement

The FCCPC boss emphasized that the era of “wild west” lending is over. The new framework strictly prohibits apps from “contact scraping”—the practice of harvesting a borrower’s contact list to send shaming messages to friends and family.

“Innovation is welcome, but it cannot come at the expense of human dignity,” Bello warned. “If you want to do business in Nigeria, you must respect the privacy and rights of the Nigerian consumer.”

Advice to Borrowers

The Commission has urged Nigerians to verify the status of any loan app before downloading it. A database of fully approved and conditionally approved lenders is now available on the FCCPC website, and the Commission advised users to avoid any app not listed on the official register.