MobileMoney Fintech Ltd Chief Executive Officer Shaibu Haruna has called for greater consumer protection and deepened financial education in the wake of growing digital lending.
Speaking during the just-ended 3i Africa Summit, Haruna stressed that there are high risks associated with the growth of rapid digital lending, especially in high-speed credit jurisdictions.
“Within the duration it takes to finish a sentence, thousands of digital loans are approved,” he observed, questioning whether customers truly understood the terms behind these loans, including interest rates, penalties and dispute resolution processes.
“If the answers are unclear, then we must admit we need to do more to protect our customers,” he said.
Haruna emphasized that consumer protection must be a shared by regulators, service providers and customers, urging greater transparency, responsible lending practices, and continuous financial education.
“As lenders, we must ensure that we are lending responsibly, but consumers must also borrow responsibly,” he urged.
According to him, Mobile Money platforms were already implementing an initiative known as “Responsible Borrowing Campaigns” to educate users and promote sustainable credit usage.
The CEO noted that one of the major discussions among industry players is transparency in pricing, stressing that borrowers must clearly understand how much loans cost and be able to compare different loan products before making decisions.
He emphasized, “financial service providers must design products in ways that make pricing easy to understand for customers, urging customers to use their loans productively and honour repayment obligations.