By The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has announced its continued efforts to combat illegal lending apps that threaten individuals who fail to repay their loans.
The central bank emphasizes that it is unlawful to intimidate borrowers by publishing their photos and personal data.
Recently, there has been a troubling increase in such practices, which have, in some cases, led to tragic outcomes, including suicides.
At the MTN Ghana Mobile Money @15 Fintech Stakeholders’ Forum, Kwame Oppong, the BoG’s Director of Fintech, warned that the central bank will not tolerate unauthorized products that jeopardize the stability of the financial sector.
“Nothing should be introduced in this country that causes instability in the financial sector and somehow put the integrity of the economy at risk. Secondly, nothing should come into the country that somehow jeopardizes the livelihoods of individuals and businesses.”
He emphasized that it is unacceptable to threaten individuals for defaulting on loan repayments.
“Those illegal lending apps who threaten borrowers by putting their pictures online, just because people need something little to get by? By the time they realize, their pictures are extracted and shared across their contact list.”
“How is this a way of making living by putting people on suicide watch by threatening to announce to the world that they owe you?” He quizzed.
Mr. Oppong advised the public to exercise caution in online financial transactions and stated that the central bank is collaborating with relevant security agencies to apprehend those responsible.
“This is why the Bank of Ghana in partnership with Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the security agencies conducted a raid over 200 people, among them foreigners,” he recalled.
At the same event, Shaibu Haruna, Chief Executive of Mobile Money Limited, highlighted that MTN will persist in implementing safety tools and enhancing education on mobile money fraud to build greater trust among customers.
The MTN mobile money @ 15 Fintech Stakeholders’ Forum was held on the theme, “Building trust and cooperation among stakeholders; How to maximize the impact of emerging technologies for the promotion of financial inclusion”.
The event gathered stakeholders from the financial technology sector to discuss the effects of emerging technologies on the financial industry and explore strategies to enhance regulation, thereby building greater trust among users and stakeholders.
