The Ministry of Finance has revoked the operating licence of fast-loan company „Credi Yes" - one of the biggest players in this segment in Macedonia, with around 40 branches in the country. The decision comes after an extraordinary inspection launched following a citizen complaint, which uncovered „systemic flaws in operations." Concrete details - for now - have not been released.

This is the start of a serious economic shock. More than 100 employees are losing their jobs. The company can no longer approve or disburse new loans. What's been less noticed in the first wave of news is that this isn't an isolated move - it's a signal of tougher regulation across a whole sector that has expanded dramatically over the past five years.

But the biggest question for an ordinary citizen isn't what happens to the company. The question is: what happens to my debts if I took a loan from them? The answer, counterintuitive at first, is - those debts stay. Revoking the licence does not cancel existing obligations. The company can no longer issue new loans, but it has both the right and the duty to collect on the ones it already approved.

That means clients with active contracts have to keep paying their instalments under the existing terms. The ministry is promising additional instructions on the collection procedure - because without working branches and operational structure, it's physically hard for someone to go in and pay. Will payment be made through a bank account? Who will manage the outstanding debts - the same company through a legal representative, or someone else?

For citizens with outstanding debts, that's added risk. They are entitled to protection from irregular collection methods. No unauthorised party can show up demanding payment „in cash" the moment the licence has been pulled. All obligations go through the contract - and through legal proceedings if a dispute arises.

The fast-loan business in Macedonia emerged as a reaction to banking procedures seen as bureaucratic and out of reach for low-income workers. Fast loans offered cash „in five minutes." The price: significantly higher interest rates than banks. „Credi Yes" had been operating since 2019 - seven years in which it gathered tens of thousands of clients, many of them repeat borrowers - and now that its licence is gone, the questions stretch across the whole sector. Could the next few companies fall? What happens to competitors running a similar model? And what does consumer protection look like in the meantime?