How to check a lender is licensed, and choose one

Four kinds of lender, four different places to check

Someone walks into your shop with a folder of loan forms, or a WhatsApp message offers a business loan "from a registered company". Before you hand over your ID or any money, find out who licensed that lender. In Tanzania the answer depends on what kind of lender it is.

Section 5 of the Microfinance Act, 2018 splits microfinance into four tiers (daraja). The Bank of Tanzania licenses Tiers 1 and 2 itself. Tier 3 licences are issued by the Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission (TCDC) and Tier 4 groups are registered by councils, so each tier is checked on a different list.

Regulation 3 of GN 679, the Tier 2 regulations made in 2019, names the five kinds of Tier 2 lender shown in the table. Section 14(1) of the Act is what lets the Bank delegate Tiers 3 and 4 like this, and the Bank's supervision report for 2024 confirms it has done both. Tier 2 stays with the Bank unless the Minister of Finance approves otherwise (section 14(5)).

One limit applies to all four tiers. The Act covers Mainland Tanzania only (section 2), and every entry on the Tier 2 register has an address in one of 26 Mainland regions. If you live in Zanzibar, the register cannot tell you whether a lender there is licensed, so ask the lender which Zanzibar law and authority it operates under.

What a Tier 2 licence number looks like

A Tier 2 licence (leseni) is a certificate from the Bank headed "Licence to conduct microfinance business", in the form set out in the Fifth Schedule to GN 679. It carries a number beginning MSP2-, the lender's name and address, and says it allows the lender to do business "in Mainland Tanzania as a Non-deposit Taking Microfinance Service Provider under Tier 2".

On the register, the part after MSP2 comes in two shapes. Both are genuine.

A letter in the number, as in MSP2-F84, is no reason for suspicion. It is the more common shape, used by 70.4% of entries.

The PDF is not consistent about the dash. You will see MSP2-0689, MSP2–F84 and MSP2 – Q04, with and without spaces. When you search the file on your phone, search for the last part only (0689 or F84) and then read the whole line.

Check the name as well as the number. Regulation 5 of GN 679 says a Tier 2 lender's business name must include one of the words "microfinance", "finance", "financial services", "credit" or "microcredit". The certificate names the company it was issued to. If that name differs from the one on your loan papers, ask why before you go any further.

Checking a name against the register, step by step

Section 54 of the Act makes the Bank keep a register of every licensed provider. For Tier 2 it publishes that register as a PDF, linked as "Orodha ya Watoa Huduma Ndogo za Fedha wa Daraja la Pili Waliosajiliwa" and headed inside "Register of Tier 2 Microfinance Service Providers".

Each entry gives the lender's name, physical and postal address, district, region, phone, email and licence number. The current edition is dated 14 August 2026, runs to 44 pages and lists 3,252 lenders. When Kopesha downloaded it again on 28 September 2026, the file had not changed.

1. Ask the lender for three things: its full registered name, its licence number and the district of its office. A licensed lender can answer on the spot.
2. Open the register PDF. The Bank links it from its page Orodha ya Taasisi Zinazosimamiwa na Benki Kuu, the list of institutions it supervises. You can also search the same entries by name, region or district in Kopesha's lender directory.
3. Find the entry by the last part of the licence number, then by name. The name, the number and the district should all match what you were told.
4. Go to the last page. Under the heading "Non-operating microfinances" the Bank lists 53 lenders that no longer operate under their licence: 19 marked revoked, 17 closed, 9 permanently closed, 7 upgraded (one of them to a bank) and 1 changed. A name or number that appears only in that table is not a working Tier 2 licence. A few names appear in both tables, most of them relicensed under a new number. If the name or number you were given is in both, treat it as unconfirmed and ask the Bank before you borrow.
5. Call the lender on the phone number printed in the register and ask whether the person who approached you works for them. Do not rely on the number that contacted you.

A lender whose licence was revoked can still show you a real licence number. Check the table on the register's last page every time, not only the main list.

The PDF is a dated edition. A lender licensed after 14 August 2026 is not in it, and one revoked since then may still be listed. Under section 25(2) of the Act the Bank must publish a revoked lender's name in the Gazette and a widely read newspaper within 14 days. Section 55 also asks it to publish the names of licensed, revoked and closed providers in those same two places every six months, or at other intervals the Bank decides.

Kopesha's directory is built from this register. A lender's page on Kopesha shows the label "On the Bank of Tanzania register" and a licence number only when the listing came from the register. A few listings were added by lenders themselves; they carry a "Not on the register" label instead. Check those against the Bank's PDF like any other name.

How many licensed lenders are near you

Counted by region, the 3,252 Tier 2 lenders on the register are spread very unevenly. Dar es Salaam has 940 of them, 28.9% of the total, while Rukwa has 20.

The number has grown fast. The Bank's supervision report for 2024 counted 2,342 licensed Tier 2 lenders at the end of 2024, 765 of them licensed during that year.

Regulation 9 of GN 679 says a Tier 2 lender needs the Bank's approval before it opens, moves or closes a place of business. So if a lender registered in another region is offering loans in your town, ask which of its approved offices will handle your loan. The register gives only one address for each lender, so if that office is somewhere else, ask the lender to show you the Bank's approval for it. Search your region and district to see the licensed names and numbers near you.

SACCOS, VICOBA groups, private moneylenders and loan apps

SACCOS. A SACCOS needs two documents. The first is its registration under the Cooperative Societies Act. The second is a Tier 3 licence under the Microfinance Act (section 18 of the Act, and regulation 4 of the 2019 SACCOS regulations, GN 675). The licence form in GN 675 has a number beginning MSP3-, the SACCOS's cooperative registration number and a category, A or B.

TCDC's published list of licensed SACCOS is dated 30 June 2022 and names 691 of them (the TCDC website sometimes answers with an error page; if it does, try the link again). The Bank's 2024 report puts the total at the end of 2024 at 964 in one place and 959 in another. Either way, a SACCOS licensed after mid-2022 is missing from that list, so ask TCDC directly. How a SACCOS works for its members is covered in our guide to VICOBA, SACCOS and microfinance.

VICOBA and other community groups. A group that collects its members' savings and lends them out must register as a community microfinance group (section 28), and doing that business unregistered is an offence (section 31(3)). The council issues a certificate of registration numbered by region, council, year and serial number, and the group's name must contain the words "Community Microfinance Group" (GN 678, regulation 9 and Form No. 3). The Act's definition leaves out welfare groups that do not take savings and lend, and collections for weddings, religious events or other family occasions.

Private moneylenders. A person who lends money as a business, a mkopeshaji binafsi, is also Tier 2, as an "individual money lender" (regulation 3 of GN 679). He or she must first register a business name (regulation 4) and then get the Bank's licence, so look for the business name on the register, not the person's own name. An individual money lender may not take cash collateral, a cash guarantee, a loan insurance guarantee or compulsory savings from you (regulation 23(3)).

Loan apps. An app is only a channel. A microfinance lender that lends through an app needs a Tier 2 licence (paragraph 3.1(a) of the Bank's digital lenders guidance note, 2024), and the app's landing page must show the name on its licence certificate, starting with the words "This App (or Digital Lending Platform) is owned or operated by" (3.1(d)). The Bank's list of approved lending apps covers only apps run by Tier 2 lenders, so a bank's app will not appear on it; look for the bank itself on the Bank of Tanzania's list of supervised institutions instead. The Bank also keeps a list of unapproved lending apps; our guide to checking a loan app goes through both lists.

What to look for at a licensed lender's office

A licence tells you the lender exists, answers to the Bank and can be complained about. It tells you nothing about price or how you'll be treated. If your district has several licensed lenders, visit the ones you are considering before any money moves, even if the whole application happened by phone.

Section 6 of the Act and regulation 9 of GN 679 require a Tier 2 lender to have a place of business with a proper address and to display its business name there. Two other things must be on show:

• its current audited financial statements, displayed all year in the public part of the main office and every branch (GN 679, regulation 26);
• its interest rates, fees and charges, in Kiswahili and English, in plain view at every place of business (Guidelines on Fees and Charges for Microfinance Service Providers, 2024, guideline 19(2), and Financial Consumer Protection Regulations 2019, regulation 40(3)(b)).

Regulation 40(3)(a) also makes lenders publish those rates and fees each quarter in a Kiswahili and an English newspaper and, since the 2025 amendment, on their official website, so you can compare before you visit.

While you are there, notice whether staff can explain the product without phoning someone first, whether receipts come from a proper receipt book or system, and whether other customers come and go. None of that proves honesty, but a fake office struggles to keep it up for months.

Choosing between licensed lenders

Ask for the draft agreement (mkataba) and repayment schedule before you commit, and read them somewhere quiet. Under regulation 22 of the Bank's Financial Consumer Protection Regulations 2019, a lender owes you clear information about a product before you sign up (22(6)) and must hand over agreements, forms, receipts and statements in writing (22(5)). Check that the paper says what the officer said: the amount, the total, the dates, the penalties and the security (dhamana). What the agreement must contain lists every item the law requires.

Compare lenders on the whole cost, not the monthly rate. Two lenders can both quote "5% a month" and charge very different totals, depending on whether interest is flat or on a reducing balance and on fees taken at payout. Regulation 39(2) of GN 679 makes every Tier 2 agreement show two figures you can put side by side: the yearly rate with all fees built in (item d) and the total of all payments (item f). What a loan really costs explains why, and comparing two loan offers works through a pair of them with the offer comparison tool.

Know which fees are allowed. The Bank's 2024 Fees Guidelines let a Tier 2 lender charge one management fee, covering application and processing (guideline 13(3) and (4)), require every lending fee to be written in the agreement (13(2)), and ban a list of other charges outright. Fees a lender cannot charge goes through what is allowed and what is not.

Pay a fee only once you have seen it in writing, pay it to the lender's own account or office, and get a receipt. A digital lender may not make you pay interest up front at all (Guidance Note 5.1(p)).

Ask, too, which association the lender belongs to. A Bank notice of 7 August 2025 required every Tier 2 lender to join, within six months, either the Tanzania Association of Microfinance Institutions (TAMFI) or the Tanzania Microfinance Institutions Union (TAMIU). The Bank appointed both to promote and enforce good conduct among their members, including dispute resolution. A licensed lender should be able to name its association.

Things that prove nothing

• A BRELA certificate of incorporation, a business licence or a TIN certificate. A company must be registered before it can apply for a lending licence (GN 679, regulation 4), but regulation 6 requires a separate licence application to the Bank.
• A certificate or letter you cannot match to the register, however official the stamp looks.
• An officer saying the company is "registered with the Bank". Check the register yourself.
• A busy office, a polished website or a Facebook page with many followers.
• Photos of customers holding cash, or WhatsApp groups full of people saying they were paid. Both are easy to stage, and advance-fee fraudsters use them; loan scams shows how those frauds run.
• A name that is almost right. Copycats change one word or letter of a real lender's name, or use a real name in a district where that lender has no office.

If the lender has no licence

Section 16(1) of the Act says no one may carry out microfinance business without a licence, and a Tier 4 group needs registration instead. The offence is committed by whoever runs the lending business. On conviction the penalties are:

The Act repeats the Tier 3 penalty in section 16(2)(c), with the same minimum fine and no upper limit.

The Bank asks the public to report anyone offering financial services without a valid licence. On its public notices page, under "Watoa Huduma za Fedha wasiosajiliwa", it gives the address complaints-desk@bot.go.tz and asks for the name and location of the business and any other useful details. Add the phone numbers used, screenshots of adverts or messages, and copies of any receipts.

If you have already paid money to someone who then disappeared, report it to the police as well. If you owe money to an unlicensed lender, keep every receipt, message and paper, and talk to a lawyer or a legal aid centre before deciding anything about that debt.

Trouble with a licensed lender goes first to that lender's complaints desk and, if it is not settled there, to the Bank's Sema na BoT service. Your rights as a borrower sets out those steps and the time limits lenders must meet.

Sources

• Microfinance Act, 2018 (Act No. 10 of 2018): sections 2, 5, 6, 14, 16, 17, 18, 25, 28, 31, 52, 54 and 55 — Bank of Tanzania
• Register of Tier 2 Microfinance Service Providers, made under section 54 of the Microfinance Act, 2018, as of 14 August 2026 — Bank of Tanzania
• Orodha ya Taasisi Zinazosimamiwa na Benki Kuu (list of supervised institutions) — Bank of Tanzania
• Microfinance (Non-Deposit Taking Microfinance Service Providers) Regulations, 2019, GN 679: regulations 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 23, 26, 39 and the Fifth Schedule — Bank of Tanzania
• Microfinance (Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies) Regulations, 2019, GN 675: regulations 4, 5 and the Second Schedule — Bank of Tanzania
• Microfinance (Community Microfinance Groups) Regulations, 2019, GN 678: regulation 9 and Form No. 3 — Bank of Tanzania
• Guidelines on Fees and Charges for Microfinance Service Providers, 2024: guidelines 13 and 19 — Bank of Tanzania
• Bank of Tanzania (Financial Consumer Protection) Regulations, 2019, GN 884: regulations 22 and 40 — Bank of Tanzania
• Bank of Tanzania (Financial Consumer Protection) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025, GN 298: amendment to regulation 40(3) — Bank of Tanzania
• Guidance Note on Digital Lenders under Tier 2 Microfinance Service Providers, 2024: guidance 3.1 and 5.1(p) — Bank of Tanzania
• Public notice: Introduction of a guided self-regulatory approach for Tier II microfinance service providers, 7 August 2025 — Bank of Tanzania
• Banking Supervision Annual Report 2024 — Bank of Tanzania
• Orodha ya SACCOS zilizopewa leseni hadi kufikia 30 Juni 2022 — Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission
• Taarifa kwa umma: Watoa Huduma za Fedha wasiosajiliwa (reporting unlicensed providers) — Bank of Tanzania
• Sema na BoT (complaints) — Bank of Tanzania

What changed

• 29 September 2026: Rewritten, and now also covers the former guide "How to choose a lender you can trust" (first published 19 September 2026), whose address redirects here. Corrections: (1) Tier 2 licence numbers come in two shapes, MSP2 and a number (962 entries) or MSP2, a letter and two digits (2,290 entries); the guide showed only the numeric shape, which could lead a reader to reject a real lender. (2) A SACCOS needs a Tier 3 licence under section 18 of the Microfinance Act as well as its cooperative registration; the guide said only that it is registered under co-operative law. (3) The register covers Mainland Tanzania only (section 2 of the Act), not "the country". (4) From the former guide: removed the claim that every listing on Kopesha carries a register entry and licence number; a few listings were added by lenders and are not on the register. (5) Replaced the statement that the register is updated as licences are granted: the PDF on the Bank's website is a dated edition (this one 14 August 2026, unchanged on 28 September 2026), and section 55 separately requires publication in the Gazette and a newspaper every six months. (6) From the former guide: Tier 2 is not limited to lenders that "lend at scale"; it includes individual money lenders and digital lenders (GN 679, regulation 3). (7) From the former guide: removed a reference to "this site's calculator", written before the site had one, and the rule headed "never has an exception" that then allowed exceptions; replaced with the fee rules in the 2024 Fees Guidelines (guideline 13) and the digital lenders' ban on up-front interest (Guidance Note 5.1(p)). (8) Removed the unsourced statement about employers' staff loan schemes. Added: the four tiers and who licenses each, the register's non-operating table (53 names), lenders by region from the register, SACCOS and community group certificates, what a lender's office must display, the TAMFI/TAMIU membership rule, the penalties for unlicensed lending, and how to report an unlicensed lender to the Bank. Category changed from cost to lenders.
• 24 September 2026: Added references to the Bank of Tanzania's regulations and a list of sources.
• 23 September 2026: First published.

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