The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has asked Ghanaians to desist from dealing with some 97 unlicensed financial institutions engaged in giving out loans to people.
The Central Bank also cautioned commercial banks, Specialised Deposit-taking Institutions and Payment Service Providers not to facilitate the illegal transactions of the unlicensed loan institutions who operated through mobile applications (apps).
It encouraged the public to patronise the various types of digital credit products approved by Bank of Ghana and delivered by banks and specialised deposit-taking institutions in partnership with mobile money operators.
In a press release issued copied to the Ghana News Agency, the Bank said it had observed that there had been persistent operations of such unlicensed entities whose loan facilities were accessed remotely through mobile money wallets without the need for collateral.
Such activities, the Bank said was in contravention of the Specialised Deposit-taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), a breach of customer data and privacy laws, and customer protection requirements and norms.
The Bank also said the activities had unfavorable implications on the integrity and wellbeing of their patrons, as such, it would continue to take actions against those entities in collaboration with relevant state agencies.
Doing so, the Central Bank said was to promote the integrity of financial service delivery in the country, therefore, urged the public to adhere to the relevant consumer protection and data privacy laws.
Source: GNA