Google has taken down a whole lot of mortgage apps from the Play Retailer in Kenya since its new coverage, which requires digital lenders within the East African nation to submit proof of license, went into effect in January.
The coverage got here within the wake of Kenya’s Digital Credit score Suppliers (DCP) laws final yr, which required entities that present loans digitally to amass a license to function from the Central Financial institution of Kenya.
Google didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
It was not instantly clear what number of mortgage apps had been blacklisted, however a spot test by TechCrunch at this time confirmed that almost 500 apps beforehand within the Finance class on Play Retailer, together with MoKash and Okash, had been taken down.
In early February, TechCrunch counted 657 apps within the Finance class, which lists loans, banking and investing apps amongst others. In the present day, solely 198 apps are listed within the class.
By January, solely 22 digital lenders had acquired a license out of the 381 that utilized, in accordance with the Central Financial institution of Kenya. These included Tala, a PayPal-backed mortgage supplier; Pezesha, a B2B embedded lending platform; and Jumo, which offers monetary companies, together with lending.
Google requires mortgage apps awaiting a license to submit a declaration kind testifying that approval is pending with the intention to acquire interim approval, which shall be legitimate for 45 days, to be listed on the Play Retailer.
Earlier than the DCP laws went into power, many of those credit score apps used to supply fast, unsecured private or enterprise loans; cost exorbitant rates of interest, apply debt-shaming techniques to get better their cash, and share buyer data with third parties, making the most of the shortage of laws and the Play Retailer’s slack vetting course of.
The laws, meant to weed out rogue gamers, additionally require mortgage apps to watch shopper privateness and data protection rights in addition to anti-money laundering legal guidelines. That is along with disclosing the phrases and pricing of loans to clients earlier than approval and disbursement.
