The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has cautioned defaulters of mobile money loans to make repayment plans with their service providers or risk facing stiffer consequences that could deny them access to credit facilities in the future.

According to BoG, its attention has been drawn to some individuals through mobile money platforms, who have deliberately refused to register their SIM cards under the ongoing national SIM card registration exercise, with the intention of avoiding repayment of their loans.

Contained in a statement dated September 28, 2022, the Central Bank noted that others have equally bought and registered new SIM cards, and discarded the old ones “with the intention of avoiding repayment of the acquired loans”.

“Bank of Ghana wishes to inform the general public that data on all mobile money loans customers are domiciled in the databases of credit bureaus. As a result, failure to repay such loans will attract negative repercussions on borrowers’ credit reports/history and could subsequently adversely affect any chance of obtaining loan facilities from other financial institutions and credit providers in future.”
Bank of Ghana

The Central Bank urged borrowers who have discarded their SIM cards to contact their telecommunication service providers or respective lenders to discuss repayment arrangements. This, it explained, is to “avoid adverse information on their credit reports” that could deny them access to future credit facilities.

Communication minister chides defaulters of Momo loans

Prior to this, Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Samuel Nartey George, revealed that some ‘Qwik Loan’ customers who were yet to settle their debts in full had decided not to pay and were waiting for their SIMs to be blocked ahead of July 31, 2022 deadline.

He indicated that the stance of the defaulters is a disincentive for government to attract investors into the tech space. Mr George explained that the quick loan has created a space for a new cadre of small-scale businesses who borrow to invest in their business and pay these facilities back.

Reacting to this, Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, rebuked persons who have obtained quick loans and have refused to re-register their SIM cards to avoid payment.

In an address on July 31, 2022, she noted that such “evil corruption” would be found out by the appropriate authorities. She revealed based on information received, some people who have obtained quick loans from their service providers have decided not to register those SIMs to avoid repaying the loans.

The SIM card re-registration exercise, which has garnered some resentment among the public due to challenges in acquiring a Ghana card is set to end on Friday, September 30, 2022. Pressure groups, such as the People’s Project, have sued the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the Attorney-General (A-G) over the ongoing SIM card re-registration exercise.

The group is asking the Supreme Court to declare the deadline for registration and the associated punitive measures for non-registration null and void. It argues that the punitive measures are unconstitutional.