The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission keeps a public register of FCCPC approved loan apps and digital lenders, and checking it before you borrow takes a couple of minutes. With school fees, December travel and festive spending all landing in the last months of the year, plenty of Nigerians reach for quick loans right now, and the app you pick decides whether you’re dealing with a regulated lender or one the regulator has never cleared.
Since July 2025, digital lending in Nigeria has been governed by the FCCPC’s Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025, usually shortened to DEON. Lenders have to register with the Commission, and in January 2026 the FCCPC withdrew the conditional approval of operators that missed its deadline and took them off its register, while keeping more than 100 unregistered apps on a watch list.
The register shows both the company and the app it runs
Open the FCCPC digital money lenders page and scroll down to the approvals table. Each entry gives the name of the company and the name of the app or apps it operates, and quite a few companies run more than one. The list is long, so on a phone it’s easier to use your browser’s Find in page option and type the app’s name.
Match the name on the Play Store or App Store with the register, then check the developer or company name on the store listing as well. Some unregistered apps use names that look almost identical to well-known lenders, so a single letter or an extra word can make all the difference. If the app isn’t on the list, or the company behind it doesn’t match, you’re better off walking away, however fast it promises to pay. The FCCPC keeps a separate list for airtime and data lenders, the services that give you credit on your line, so check that one if that’s what you use.
A registered lender has to show you the full cost before you accept
Under regulation 17 of the DEON rules, a lender must fully disclose the interest rate, repayment terms and any associated fees before the transaction is completed. Read that screen properly instead of tapping through it, and take a screenshot of the terms so you have a record of exactly what you agreed to. If the total you’ll repay isn’t clear, or the app only shows it after you’ve accepted, treat that as a red flag.
The regulations also ban pre-authorised or automatic lending, so an app shouldn’t push a loan into your account that you never asked for. Lenders applying for registration have to confirm that their apps won’t access customers’ call logs, contacts or photo gallery, and they’re expected to comply with the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023. An app that insists on reading your contacts before it will lend to you is giving you a good reason to uninstall it. Companies that break the rules can face fines of up to ₦100 million or 1% of their turnover, and their directors can be disqualified for up to five years.
When a loan app starts messaging your contacts or threatening you
Keep every piece of evidence, including screenshots of messages, call logs, the loan terms and your repayment receipts. Then file a complaint on the FCCPC complaints portal, naming both the app and the company behind it. Messages sent to your family, friends or colleagues about your debt, or the sharing of your photos, may also be a data protection issue you can raise with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.
If anyone threatens you with violence, report it to the police. Repaying what you genuinely owe through the app’s official channel is still the cleanest way to close the matter, but don’t send money to personal accounts that recovery agents read out to you over the phone. For a serious dispute about how much you owe, it’s worth speaking to a lawyer before you pay anything extra.
Sometimes the cheaper loan is the slower one
Quick loans can feel like a lifeline when salary is still a week away, but short repayment periods and fees add up fast, especially once one loan is used to pay off another. Before you borrow, find out whether your bank, cooperative society or a microfinance bank offers something cheaper, and compare it with the total the app wants back. This guide to personal loans in Nigeria and their interest rates is a useful place to start the comparison.
Fraudsters also copy the look of loan apps to steal money and data, from fake “approval fees” to links asking for your BVN and card PIN. The habits that protect you from a fake transfer screenshot or the WhatsApp verification code scam work here too, so slow down, check the official source and be very wary of anyone who wants you to pay a fee before a loan is released.
Make the register check a habit for anyone in your family who borrows online, especially younger relatives and older parents who may not know the FCCPC keeps a list at all. It takes a minute, and it can spare you months of harassment and a debt that keeps growing.
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