Customers complain about the high interest and fees for “Quick Cash” applications

Dealers with applications that grant small loans, known as “quick cash,” said that these applications impose a fee of 16% of the value of the amount granted, in addition to interest of up to 47% during a repayment period not exceeding six months.

They explained to “Emirates Today” that these applications grant loans in amounts between 1,000 and 5,000 dirhams, but they do not give the customer the full amount, but rather less by about 100 or 300 dirhams as a fee for completing the transaction, while the interest rate ranges between 34 and 47%, which is a large percentage.

They said that there is a daily late fee of 25 dirhams, if the borrower does not pay at the agreed upon time, and that he is included in internal lists that prevent him from dealing or taking facilities again, according to a special evaluation number for these applications, pointing out that there are no contact numbers with them. For any inquiries or customer service centers.

For his part, banking expert, Amjad Nasr, said, “These applications target groups that cannot deal with banks by taking loans or credit cards and do not require documents, except for an ID or passport, so the risk rate in recovering these amounts is high, and this explains why They charge high transaction fees, interest or late fees.”

He stated that “if the customer is not sure of his ability to pay, he prefers not to deal with it, because it informs Al-Etihad Credit Information Company of the details of the customers, according to certain conditions and for specific amounts.” Nasr pointed out that the idea of ​​these applications is to reach segments of youth or those with low income of less than 5,000 dirhams, and need small amounts to pay emergency obligations, and all of them are licensed by the Central Bank and operate under its umbrella and supervision.

For her part, banking expert, Sheikha Al-Ali, said, “The Central Bank regulated the work of these applications and set rates for fees, interests, etc., so that they do not exceed a specific percentage of the principal amount, but what is most important is for the customer to realize that the high risk rate is behind these fees and interests, in addition to the The presence of a number of non-compliant customers, which necessitated the administrations of these applications to use collection companies to follow up on borrowers, and the latter have many annoying methods of communication, so it is recommended to avoid late payment or not dealing with them. Except for extreme necessity.”

She added: “Delay in payment affects the customer’s credit rating, as these companies or applications are required to provide Al-Ittihad Credit Information Company with the borrowers’ details, in accordance with the instructions of the Central Bank, so attention must be paid to these controls, and not to rush to take amounts only for consumer spending, especially For the youth category.