The Bank of Ghana is cautioning the public against unlicensed entities engaged in the provision of loans to consumers, in contravention of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016.

According to the Central Bank, these illegal entities mostly employ the use of mobile applications and social media in their activities.

The entities which are 19 in number are SikaPurse Quick Online loan, 4Cedi Instant Mobile loan application, Zidisha Online Loans, Ghana Lending Application, ChasteLoan Application, LoanClub-Ghana Instant Loan, AdamfoPa Loan, MetaLending- Instant Cash Loan and Wohiasika Loan (Ghanaloan.net).

The rest are Boseafie – Bosea Micro-Credit, SikaKasa Online Lending, LoanPro – digital and instant loan, BegyeBosea Loan, SikaWura Loan Application, LendingPapa – Online Loans, CrestCash Loan, Credxter – Loans and Hire- Purchase, MobiLoan Application and Cedi Now – Cash Loans Application.

The Central Bank further said “the activities of these unauthorised entities amount to non-adherence of the consumer protection requirements and an abuse of customers’ data and privacy laws”.

“The Bank of Ghana is taking steps to take action against these entities and hereby advises the general public to desist from doing business with all unlicensed loan providers. Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions, as well as payment service providers are advised to facilitate the illegal transactions of the unlicensed loan providers”, it explained.

It advised the public to visit its website www.bog.gov.gh/supervision-regulation/all to see the list of licensed institutions.

Again, it urged the public to report such activities.