Abstract
The article examines the proliferation of short-term, unsecured credit offered by digital money lenders (DMLs) in Nigeria, with a focus on abusive debt collection practices such as unauthorised disclosure of personal information, the use of threats and the defamation of borrowers, often disregarding existing financial consumer safeguards. To balance the growth of digital lending with recognised consumer safeguards, the study employs a doctrinal research approach to assess consumer protection mechanisms within Nigeria’s legal and institutional framework. The article proposes several recommendations, including promoting consumer awareness, expanding judicial and administrative channels of reporting and redress, improving and publishing regulatory activities, introducing fair digital lending rules, employing Enforcement Technology to facilitate monitoring and redress, fostering industry collaboration in data sharing, expanding the scope of formal entities providing credit, simplifying access to formal credit and strengthening credit reporting. These measures aim to establish a sustainable, inclusive and empowering digital lending environment for all stakeholders.
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Acknowledgements
I wish to express my deep gratitude to Robin Simpson for reading through the manuscript and offering valuable insights. I also thank the journal reviewers for their detailed comments which were invaluable to enriching the work.
Funding
This research is a part of the publication output for the 2023 British Academy Visiting Fellowship grant VF2\101177 carried out at the University of Southampton Business School, Department of Decisions Analytics and Risks, United Kingdom. Funding from the British Academy is acknowledged.
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Monye, O. Strengthening Nigeria’s Digital Money Lending Ecosystem. J Consum Policy (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-024-09569-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-024-09569-8