The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has removed Nigerian fintech, Sycamore from the list of delisted digital lenders in Nigeria, according to the latest directory on its website.
Last month, FCCPC announced that it had “permanently delisted” two digital money lenders, including Sycamore, due to unethical practices such as duplicity and the use of Android Package Kits (APK) file formats.
According to Babatunde Irukera, CEO of FCCPC, although both lenders were approved, the duplicity is executed such that approved digital lenders use these alternate channels for prohibited conduct.
However, a Sycamore spokesperson told Bendada.com that the company was impersonated by the erring app; Get Loan. Our investigation revealed that Get Loan operates with a fake address and is not affiliated with Sycamore.
“Since being made aware of this situation, we have been in active cooperation with the appropriate authorities, including the FCCPC, to identify and address the imposter responsible for these deceptive practices,” Sycamore said.
The “Get Loan” app has since been removed from Google Playstore and added to a watch list alongside 19 other unapproved digital lenders in Nigeria.
The latest directory of licensed digital lenders in Nigeria is made up of 154 companies; the regulator has listed the companies alongside the apps that they operate to avoid duplicity.
Meanwhile, 40 other digital lenders are said to have conditional approval to operate; and nine including “Get Loan” have been delisted.
