Qwikloan Not Free Money — BoG
Since telecommunications firms (telecos) started offering mobile money (MOMO) loans, some of their consumers have abused the opportunity.
While some borrowers used the loans to launch or recapitalize their businesses, others improperly accessed the money, which contributed to their inability to repay.
They have ceased using their SIM cards to evade detection so that the telcos can’t trace them.
The amount owed to the telecos is not yet known, but sources claim it is in the millions of Ghana cedis.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has therefore recommended people who have defaulted on mobile money loans to try to pay back their debts for their own benefit.
The bank claimed that most customers believed they could avoid paying back a mobile money loan by deleting their SIM card after receiving one.
But according to Godfred Cudjoe, head of the BoG’s credit reporting unit, all borrowers of mobile money loans had their information stored with the Credit Reference Bureau, and “this could damage you in the future when you desperately need a loan.”
He advised against thinking that a mobile money loan is free money or that you can get away with borrowing and discarding your SIM card.
He claims that the Credit Reference Bureau, which keeps tabs on people’s credit worthiness, has information on anyone who has taken out a mobile money loan.
All banks do a search at the Credit Reference Bureau on all of their customers before giving a loan facility to them, according to Mr. Cudjoe, who was speaking at a financial literacy course for employees of the Ghana Immigration Service in Kumasi.
He clarified that this was done to make sure the borrower didn’t have a history of payment defaults.
