The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is alerting the public to refrain from engaging the services of some 19 entities providing loans to the public without a license.
BoG says the operations of the institutions are in contravention of the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016.
The Act posits that (i) a person shall not carry on a deposit-taking business in or from within the country unless that person is a body corporate formed under the laws of this country.
(ii) A person that is not a body corporate formed under the laws of the country may, with the prior written approval of the Bank of Ghana, carry out a deposit-taking business in or from within the country.
In a statement, the central bank expressed that these illegal entities mostly employ the use of mobile applications and social media in their activities.
BoG explained that “the activities of these unauthorized entities amount to non-adherence of the consumer protection requirements and an abuse of customers’ data and privacy laws”.
“The Bank of Ghana, however, noted that it is taking steps to take action against these entities and thus advised the general public to report such activities,” it said.
It added, “Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions, as well as payment service providers, are advised not to facilitate the illegal transactions of the unlicensed loan providers”.
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