The Federal Government has requested that Google remove four lending applications from the Play Store.
In a statement issued by its Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Irukera, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) stated that the applications include: Maxi Credit, Here4U, ChaCha, and SoftPay.
He further stated that some of the studied applications have discovered strategies to avoid account freezing and app suspension Orders by using technology and other financial services alternatives.
“The Commission has also today entered other Orders that will impair or diminish violators’ ability to create circumvention attempts or alternative methods to circumvent the goal of the inquiry and protection of people,” according to the statement.
“In particular, the Commission has submitted further Orders to Google Play Store to remove the following applications that were revealed to be produced and operated in defiance of current investigative interventions: Maxi Credit, Here4U, ChaCha, and SoftPay.”
The Commission also ordered all payment systems in operation, including Fluttewave, Opay, Paystack, and Monify, to immediately cease and desist from providing payment or transaction services to lenders under investigation or who are not otherwise operating in accordance with applicable regulatory approvals.
It also requested that telecommunications companies refrain from supplying technology to host the lending apps.
In addition, a modified data privacy policy on the Google Play Store requires applications that offer financial services on its platform to tell consumers about how they intend to utilize their personal information.
The National Information and Technology Development Agency (NITDA) penalized Soko Lending Company N10 million in August 2021 for sending threatening texts to borrowers, which it said violated their privacy.
Following that, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) issued a joint statement announcing plans to launch investigations into the illegal practices of digital money lenders in Nigeria.
Babatunde Irukera, Vice-Chairman of the FCCPC’s Joint Task Force, stated in March 2022 that the commission had blocked no less than 30 bank accounts run by unlawful loan organizations.
However, despite recent progress in closing down loan sharks, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele noted that identifying these organizations remained difficult due to the subterranean nature of the industry.
