Google removes predatory loan apps from Play Store for Android

But this time, Google has cracked down on apps that can be termed legitimate. We are talking about loan apps which have now been removed from the Google Play Store. The reason behind this move is believed to be fighting against payday loans that charge an insane interest rate. This is also not the first time that Google has shown its fight against payday loans. As the company had banned payday-loan ads in its search browser back in 2016.

With this new move to ban apps from Android, it is believed that the users taking these type of loans will be significantly reduced. According to the report from Wall Street Journal, apps with an “Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 36% or higher are no longer available on the Play Store as of this August”.

Now, we normally see that the interest rates or Annual Percentage Rate is anywhere between 10-30% and that is still high but acceptable. However, it is found out that some loan apps charge more than 36% and as high as triple-digit rates which is just ridiculous. But the problem is that they offer attractive offers such as first payment in the next monthly cycle and similar so people get attracted to them.

Not everyone is in favour of the ban by Google though and CURO Financial Technology Corp. is one of them. The corporation thinks that this ban from Google harms legitimate operators and consumers looking for legal loans.