The economic crisis in the country has left a lot of Nigerians frustrated, hopeless and helpless. As a result, many microfinance and money lending firms have emerged to take advantage of the situation. While some of them offer genuine financial assistance with considerable interest rates and repayment methods, others are just like preys that milk their ‘victims’ dry.
Let’s be clear, quick loans can be lifesavers; literally. One of the major advantages is the ability to receive instant cash to take care of your urgent needs. It’s important to note that prior to the proliferation of fintech startups and the normalisation of quick loans in Nigeria, the gap between the banked and unbanked population was quite wide.
Despite these, there have been concerns raised with regards to the modus operandi of these loan platforms. The issues range from privacy concerns, exploitative and deceptive interests, to their controversial loan recovery tactics.
Freelanews Business Intelligence (FBi) unit beams the searchlight on activities of these lending platforms, using Renmoney as a good case for reference. This is based on the fact they are among the pioneers for the lending space, the most visible and perhaps, the biggest. Our findings as well as genuine reviews, not the paid ones with an element of PR and money behind as glimpsed from Playstore, Trustpilot and others, revealed a disheartening situation that requires the immediate attention and action of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) among other regulatory agencies and stakeholders.
These reviews indicate that there is an ongoing ‘legal daylight robbery’ among these platforms, specifically Renmoney on helpless and hapless customers who have to pay interest rates which is as high as 50% compared to the rates advertised across their marketing touchpoints. A government agency like APCON, which verifies and approves advert messages based on the veracity of claims should be concerned on how Renmoney’s advertised 10% interest rates metamorphoses to more than 50%!
“Terrible customer service, outrageous interest rates!”
Philip Job (not real name) gave his experience with Renmoney.
“Having done businesses with Renmoney in the past, I approached the platform for the loan of N250,000 and N220,000 was approved. I was informed that I will pay almost N15,000 every week for 24 weeks. Now, if you multiply N15,000 by 24 weeks, it means that I will be paying back almost N360,000, which is over half (50%) of interest of what I would have borrowed.
“I inquired from Juliana, being the representative that attended to me, why the interest rate was that high? And I guess for my audacity to ask such an important question, the company just stopped communicating with me or responding to my messages. My loan which had shown it has been approved suddenly became a consideration from their platform.”
“Those people are cunning”
Henshaw Jeffery, another customer had a similar issue with the interest rate and customer.
“Those people are corny, I don’t advice anyone to get a loan except such person is stupid. Imagine asking for a loan and I was told I’m only entitled to ₦150,000. But that’s not the problem; the interest rate is beyond day time robbery! How can one get back an interest of ₦265,000 as a payback? This is the reason Islamic banking is far better than Renmoney and these so-called financial institutions.”
Like many others, Jeffery also had something to say about Renmoney’s poor customer service: “I believe the people handling this especially the representatives are mean divorced and single mothers who are passing out their frustration to anyone.”
“This company have no sense of service delivery and excellence”
Chookz Nnene concludes that doing any business with Renmoney is a complete waste of time and money as they have no sense of service delivery and excellence.
“I opened the savings account a while ago with no issue and was able to pay savings and view on the portal up until two months ago when it stopped working. I emailed the account manager a lady by the name of Anuoluwapo Rotibi who assured me my money was intact and they had a technical glitch. I emailed and phoned a week ago, no response and her phone is off and I can’t get into the system.
“I won’t advice any rational thinking person to invest in a so-called digital platform that produces no reports on your investment, no working platform and worst of all no channel to make inquiries but for an automated replay service that doesn’t respond to IVR prompts to put you through. Huge waste of time and money… .”
“Unprofessionalism at its peak!!!”
Yetunde Opatokun is more apt with her description of Renmoney’s service.
“Unprofessionalism at its peak!!!! I have never seen such in my life! Bad English and no courtesy! Please work on communication and your staff!” she advised.
“Renmoney is an absolute joke!”
Suleiman Abubakar’s view is no different from Yetunde’s.
“Renmoney is poor customer service personified. The name of the agent who attended to me was Khadija Adeniran, and after going through all the hassle to provide my details, I was told the system rejected my loan request, imagine! I just hope I am safe as I’ve provided a lot of personal details to them, but Renmoney is an absolute joke!”
“I fear for the security of my financial details”
If Abubakar’s fear for his personal details appear irrational, then Samson’s experience confirms it. According to Samson, a young Nigerian who has a lot of experiences with quick lenders, there are possibilities that these lending companies invade people’s privacy.
“I won’t be surprised if they cross some lines they shouldn’t cross in the process of looking up your credit history. I mean, how am I sure that these people do not already have access to my account statements even when I do not have any transactions with them? Before they start sending those their patronising messages asking you to come borrow money, it’s very possible they already looked you up to see how much you earn per month. Why should they do that? That’s very invasive and I think something needs to be done to curtail how far they can go to retrieve people’s personal details. I tried registering for a loan with Renmoney just once but I kept getting calls and messages from different other like-platforms. I fear for the security of my financial details.”
“Borrowing money from Renmoney was a hell of an experience”
A customer who identifies simply as Covani Square spoke about the harrowing experience, shame and disgrace he encountered in the hands of Renmoney recovery agents following his late payment of acquired loan because of the challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic.
“I have been a customer for over 14 months and everything was going fine but just before the corona pandemic, I had financial crisis which then was worsened by the shutdown of the nation. Throughout the lockdown, I keep getting calls from different agents with various threats, as if threats will yield money.
“I tried several times to know if those agents were calling from another planet other than earth, because I believed everyone on earth knows what is going on as the world was almost completely on shut down. The level of wickedness, hassling, insults and dehumanizing treatment by these agents show the level of wickedness of a company whose only interest is how to recoup their money not even taking into consideration the payment history of the customer.
“I will warn even the worst of my enemies not to go near anything that starts with REN…. It’s been hell of an experience. I will nominate Renmoney for an award for the company with the most heartless set of customer care team. I am confident that they will surely have no rival for this award,” he concluded.
“Renmoney will harass you, harass your family and your friends”
If Covani’s experience gets to you, then perhaps, Folake Olubiyi’s shows the level to which a platform like Renmoney will go to embarrass customers.
“Renmoney and other lending apps will call your family and friends to tell them you are a debtor. At the end of the day, you are left suppressed, oppressed, depressed and feeling suicidal, sometimes. My self-confidence took a hit one time as I became ashamed to step out of my house.”
These reviews above were just a few samples of thousand others which a quick search will reveal. It is time for FCPC and other stakeholders in the affairs of Nigerian consumers wade into the activities of these platforms. The need for raising the barrier of industry entrance for the players should be reviewed and their activities regulated.
Pundits reasoned that the unexpected resignation of its former managing director, a woman reputed to be of sterling character and an alumnus of Harvard Business School, Oluwatobi Boshoro, may be due to Renmoney’s unethical practices, which she couldn’t stomach. She joined the company in July 2018 and left on July 30, 2019, just one year after.
Freelanews’ respondents hoped that the relevant authorities can step in and reign in ‘the extortionist’ tendencies of the so called quick loan givers.
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