Nigerian authorities have permanently delisted two digital loan applications and placed others on a watchlist for flouting regulations in a new crackdown.
There have been growing concerns on invasion of customer privacy which saw the government in April ban the digital lenders from accessing contacts and photos of their customers.
The lenders have previously been accused of resorting to customer-shaming tactics against clients who default on loan repayments.
Digital lenders have proliferated the West African country and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) said it will soon release a list of those not registered to operate in Nigeria.
"The commission advises consumers to consider only DMLs (lenders) whose apps can be downloaded from Google Playstore as only those have been subjected to regulatory scrutiny," said FCCPC chief executive Babatunde Irukera.
Africa's largest economy has registered about 180 digital loan apps to operate in the country, according to local media reports.
