Owners of loan apps comment as the FG prevents digital banks from accessing customer photos.

• Beginning on May 31, digital banks, payment systems, and loan apps won't be able to access the contacts and images of their users. 
• The change is in accordance with current Google policy updates and directives from the Federal Government.
• Google had warned lending applications and online lenders to agree to its recently updated policy update or risk being kicked out of its store. 

Ngozi Dozie, a co-founder of Carbon, claims that the new Google policy prohibiting loan apps from accessing users' contacts and photographs will hurt online lenders. Despite the policy's noble goals, Dozie wrote in a blog post on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, that it would stifle innovation and limit fintech companies' ability to promote financial inclusion, putting them at a disadvantage to the large banks.
Despite the fact that banks' processes are identical, he claimed that loan applications are handled inconsistently and unfairly. He stated: 

"Why the various therapies? It is misleading to distinguish between digital banking applications and lending apps because a bank, which Carbon is by default, lends. As a result, all banking applications are also lending apps by default."

"There is a serious risk that an initiative that began as a good thing may hinder innovation and harm the smaller businesses performing God's work in financial inclusion. Even worse, the big banks already have an unfair advantage over the fintech Davids. 

The Google policy was required, according to the Carbon CEO, since some loan apps have misused access to users' contacts and photographs. He claimed that Google has prevented further exploitation by limiting access to users' personal data on the phone and Apple. 
 

"This practice is obviously abusive and violates all privacy laws; Google is right to lessen the invasion of privacy," he stated. But by not giving this policy more thought, Google is crippling some of the more forward-thinking businesses that are serving the Lord, like Carbon. 

he said: 

"The announcement that the Nigerian government will enforce Google's most recent policy coincided with its efforts to stop lending apps and other digital lenders from violating their clients' privacy."
 

Recent crucial judgments by the Nigerian government to address loan app privacy abuses by clients. Out of the more than 200 loan apps currently functioning in Nigeria, 173 have been registered, according to a list recently published by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). In its April 2023 policy update, Google stated that the new change would offer relief to users of loan apps in the nation and other locations who were being subjected to obnoxious practices and rights violations by loan apps.

Google said:

"Policy preview (effective May 31, 2023): This post provides a sneak peek at the revisions to our policies coming in April 2023.

"We are updating our personal loans policy to state that apps aiming to provide or facilitate personal loans may not access user contacts or photos."We are adding new specifications for personal loan apps that cater to people in Pakistan. Applications for personal loans in Pakistan are subject to submission of licensing information relevant to that nation. 

The search engine giant reportedly notified revisions to the developer program policies before announcing the new policy, according to Punch. It demands that Nigerian, Indian, Indonesian, Philippine, and Kenyan digital money institutions and lenders conform by its regulatory requirements by January 31, 2023, or they would be shut down. 
 

The tech giant declared that only digital lenders with a verifiable clearance letter from the Commission and compliance with the Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guidelines Lending of 2022 by the FCCPC would be permitted on the Play Store in Nigeria. 

Babatunde Irukera, the Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, characterized it as a positive development that demonstrated Google's enshrined regulatory policy in Nigeria and abroad. 

Only a few days ago, the Federal Government of Nigeria granted permission for 117 digital lending apps to provide services to Nigerians. According to Techcrunch, Google's new policy, which takes effect on May 31, would forbid apps from accessing private user information like images, videos, contacts, and call logs.