ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has warned the public about falling prey to unauthorised lending apps — MoneyBox and MoneyClub.

The SECP on Monday observed that these apps were using the names of licenced non-banking fin­ance companies (NBFCs) to gain public confidence in offering lending services without any regulatory approval.

The regulator has not granted any permission to its licenced NBFCs, QistBazaar (Pvt) Ltd and QistPay BNPL (Pvt) Ltd, to launch the apps namely MoneyBox and MoneyClub, respectively.

This unauthorised activi­ty poses a serious threat to the public as these apps have been operating without regulatory appro­val. The SECP maintains a publicly available list of licenced NBFCs and digital lending apps that have the regulator’s permission to offer lending services.

The public is encouraged to verify the regulatory status of any NBFC and its authorised app before transacting any business with a lending entity.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2023