Google Suspends Nigeria, Kenya Illegal Loan Apps

Search engine acknowledged globally for incisive, accurate information, Google International has requested Kenyan loan apps, otherwise known as cash apps, to submit proof of license to operate in the east African country, failure to which risks delisting them from Play Store, Google-owned digital distribution service.

Financial services which applied for licensing by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), capable of producing evidence of the same, may be spared.

Google’s action, however sluggish, and coming on the heels of the implementation of the Digital Credit Providers Regulations, took effect this November, to protect borrowers from rogue apps, many of which had predatory lending practices and used debt-shaming tactics to recover their money.

New and existing loan apps in Kenya are now expected to submit the requisite documents and information, or risk being locked out at the end of January next year, following similar actions in India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

“Developers with personal loan apps targeting Kenyan users must complete [a] declaration form and submit the necessary documentation before publishing their personal loan. Personal loan apps operating in Kenya without proper declaration and license attribution will be removed from the Play Store,” Google affirmed in a policy update requiring apps in Nigeria to also get a “verifiable approval letter” from the country’s consumption regulatory body, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

While less stringent than Kenya’s new law, the FCCPC rules, which came into effect in August this year to protect borrowers, expects lending apps to declare their fees and demonstrate how they receive feedback and solve complaints, among other transactional requirements.