By: Damian Okonkwo
Given the rising abuse of user's privacy common with the loan apps in Nigeria and other African countries, the giant tech company - Google has announced its new policy to remove all unlicensed Nigerian loan apps from its downloader app known as the play store. This new policy is expected to take effect from January 31, 2023.
According to the report from Google, all loan apps hitherto registered with the play store will need to be approved by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), as all loan apps without authorization from this body will be removed from the play store. This new policy is not restricted to Nigeria only but is also will be applicable to few other countries where the practice is common today for loan apps to register with the play store without obtaining full authorization from the relevant financial regulators. Other countries listed were: Kenya, India, Philippine, and Indonesia.
This policy, however, is applicable to loan apps offering loans directly to customers as well as those that connects users to a third-party lender.
Google had given enough time for all such unregistered apps on the platform to immediately update their legal status by registering with FCCPC or risk being removed from January 31, 2023.
Upon registering with the FCCPC, the loan apps will need to provide evidence of registrations including an approval letter from FCCPC and other relevant documents attesting to the company's approval and compliance with the regulatory authority.
The new decision by Google seems to support the current effort by FCCPC to unregistered loan apps that violate customers' rights and privacy.
Earlier this year the Nigerian government through FCCPC requested Google to delete four loan apps that were not registered with the body which were found to be violating the user's rights and indulging in several unethical practices against the laid down procedures for business. The apps removed were: Here4U, ChaCha, SoftPay, and Maxi Credit.
As the abuses by these loan apps increased every day, Google had deemed it necessary to sanitize its platform by ensuring that all the approved loan apps on its platform are authorized by the relevant authority.