FG Deregisters 18 Loan Apps, Issues Order To Google | SEE FULL LIST
The Federal Government of Nigeria has delisted 18 loan Apps for either operating without regulatory approval or being in violation of the Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending, 2022.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) while announcing the delisting, ordered Google to remove the affected loan Apps from Google play store.
The Commission also gave already approved digital money lenders five days to prove they are operating within its set guidelines, adding that compliance with its guidelines was now mandatory, and failure to do so was a violation of the law.
The affected apps include;
“Getloan, Joy Cash-Loan Up to 1,000,000, Camelloan, Cashlawn, Nairaloan, Eaglecash, Moneytreefinance Made Easy, Luckyloan Personal Loan, Cashme, Easynaira, Swiftcas, Crediting, Swiftkash, Hen Credit loan, Nut loan, Cash door, Cashpal, and Nairaeasy gist loan.”
On July 20, 2023, the FCCPC delisted two loan apps, Getloan and Camelloan, from Google Play Store for harassing Nigerians.
A statement issued by the Executive Vice Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Irukera, had read in part;
“In the course of the commission’s continuing investigation and tracking of these illegally operating digital money lenders, the commission has discovered duplicity by at least two otherwise legally registered digital money lenders on the commission’s approval list.”
According to FCCPC, some digital money lenders rely on Android Package Kits file formats to reach consumers outside of Google Play store, to avoid regulatory compliance.
The Commission warned that compliance with its guidelines was mandatory for all digital money lenders, regardless of whether they intended to be placed on Playstore, operate by APK file formats, or any other means.
