The Federal Competitors and Client Safety Fee has set January 5, 2026, as the final word date for each digital lending service and intermediary in Nigeria to fully comply with the brand new guidelines for client loans established by the Federal Competitors and Client Safety Act of 2018.
This transfer, introduced by the Fee’s Director of Company Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, represents a major step within the Federal Authorities’s effort to curb unethical practices throughout the nation’s fast-expanding digital lending trade.
In accordance with the assertion, “The Federal Competitors and Client Safety Fee has set Monday, 5 January 2026, because the deadline for full compliance with the Digital, Digital, On-line and Non-Conventional Client Lending Rules, 2025.
“The Rules got here into impact on 21 July 2025 beneath the Federal Competitors and Client Safety Act 2018. It goals to advertise equity, transparency, and accountability throughout Nigeria’s rising digital lending market.”
To assist operators, the Fee has issued further steering — the Pointers on the Digital, Digital, On-line and Non-Conventional Client Lending Rules, 2025 — made beneath Sections 17 and 163 of the FCCPA.
The doc outlines compliance necessities, documentation requirements, and introduces up to date Kinds 1 and three following stakeholder suggestions
Candidates with pending submissions are permitted to offer any further data required beneath the brand new tips with out awaiting formal requests, whereas the Fee pledged to keep up transparency and effectivity in processing purposes.
Reiterating the directive, the Government Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, Tunji Bello, emphasised the importance of following the deadline
He acknowledged, “Full compliance is just not solely a authorized requirement however an vital step in defending customers and making certain that the sector continues to develop pretty and responsibly. Operators have had ample time to regulate to the Rules and the extra steering now offered. We anticipate all obligations to be met earlier than the deadline.”
Below the brand new guidelines, all lending platforms, intermediaries, and repair companions should meet stipulated compliance requirements by January 5, 2026. Enforcement actions will start instantly afterward, with penalties comparable to operational restrictions, suspension of licenses, and doable prosecution for non-compliant entities.
Copies of the rules, varieties, and often requested questions can be found on the FCCPC’s web site and at its places of work nationwide.
Nigeria’s digital lending trade has seen speedy progress pushed by cell entry and a big unbanked inhabitants, but it surely has additionally confronted challenges together with client abuse, privateness breaches, and predatory restoration ways by unlicensed lenders, popularly often known as “mortgage sharks.”
These organizations have been alleged to impose excessive rates of interest and partake in public embarrassment and intimidation to gather money owed, together with dispatching damaging messages to debtors’ associates.
In response, the FCCPC initiated a joint process pressure in 2022 along with the Central {Bank} of Nigeria, the Nationwide Info Expertise Improvement Company, and the Unbiased Corrupt Practices and Different Associated Offences Fee
The initiative led to an interim registration framework requiring lenders to acquire approval earlier than working.
Nevertheless, the Fee launched the extra thorough 2025 Rules and Pointers in an effort to completely sanitise the trade attributable to persistent violations by sure operators.
As of November 2025, the FCCPC has granted full approval to 438 digital lending corporations, marking important progress towards a safer, extra clear digital lending setting in Nigeria.