Your phone buzzes at 6 AM. It’s another threatening message from a loan app demanding repayment, this time accompanied by a fake legal notice. They’ve already sent your photo to your entire contact list, called your boss three times, and added 47% interest to what you borrowed last month. The ₦20,000 you needed for an…
Back in 2022, my neighbor Chioma borrowed ₦50,000 from a loan app to cover her daughter’s school fees. Three months later, her phone wouldn’t stop ringing. The app had contacted everyone in her phonebook — her pastor, her boss, her ex-husband — telling them she was a fraudster. She paid back ₦85,000 (that’s 70% interest…
You submitted your NIRSAL loan application three weeks ago. Every morning, you check your email. Nothing. You refresh the application portal. Still “under review.” Your business needs that capital now, not next quarter, but you’re paralyzed by one terrifying question: If I follow up, will they think I’m desperate and reject me? I’ve walked dozens…
You know that sick feeling when another loan app sends the fifth threatening text in one day, or when your contact list gets bombarded because you needed ₦50,000 to restock? I’ve watched too many business owners in Lagos — tailors, food vendors, tech startups — get trapped in that cycle. Borrow ₦100,000, pay back ₦180,000…
In 2021, I witnessed a colleague nearly lose her job because a loan app sent a message to her boss, labeling her a “fraudster who refuses to pay debts.” She’d borrowed ₦20,000, repaid ₦24,500, but the app insisted she still owed ₦ 4,000 in hidden “insurance fees.” She didn’t know she had legal rights to…
Feeling trapped between predatory loan apps and impossible bank requirements? This article is for you. Last month, a fashion designer in Lekki told me she’d been turned down by three commercial banks in four weeks, and then faced harassment daily from a loan app charging 30% monthly interest after she borrowed N50,000 out of desperation….
You know that feeling in your gut when payday is a week away, but the bills are screaming now? You check your bank account. Nothing. Then you see those loan app ads that promise “Instant Cash!” Stop. Don’t touch them. Before you make the biggest mistake of your life, I want you to check your…
You searched for this because something already went wrong. Your phone keeps ringing. Strange numbers pop up. Messages sound angry or threatening. Someone you know may have been contacted. This is what a loan app default in Nigeria often looks like, and it is meant to shake you. The truth is, defaulting on a loan…
You saw the ad on Instagram at 2 a.m., right when rent was due, and your account balance mocked you with three zeros. “Borrow ₦50,000 at just 5% for 30 days! Instant approval!” It felt like a lifeline. You tapped “Apply,” got approved in minutes, and the money was deposited into your account within hours….
Let’s be honest. You know you need an emergency fund. Even if you ignore it. BNPL helps you breathe today. Rent is high. Prices are crazy. So, saving feels impossible, right? Wrong. Waiting to pay off all your BNPL debt before you save is a trap. It’s how people stay broke forever. But what if…