*LCredit loan app yanked off Google Play Store!
*Scam loan app, Rapid Naira also removed by Google Play Store!
*For Naira, a predatory loan shark remains on Google Network
Investigations by QUICK LOAN ARENA indicate that Google has removed Rapid Naira and LCredit and some others yet to be identified quick loan apps from its Play Store for allegedly violating its set policies on finance apps operations.
Why Google removes LCredit, Rapid Naira, other predatory loan apps from its Play Store
Recall this medium reported few weeks ago that scam apps such as Rapid Naira, ForNaira and a few others hosted on Google Play Store are scavenging poor Nigerians and violating Google Policies on lending apps. However a quick check by this reporter indicates that ForNaira, one of those predatory scam lending apps on Google Play is still hosted on the giant network.
About Rapid Naira App
Rapid Naira is a mobile application that claims to offer reliable quick loans to Nigerians. The app was launched on August 16, 2021 by Sun Constellation. Since its launch, Rapid Naira already has well over five thousand (5,000) downloads as at the time of this publication.
Rapid Naira promises to get you quick loan in just few steps. The platform claims their loans are for Nigerians and that you can borrow between N6,000 to N300,000 and repay between 91 to 365 days. They also claim to charge interest rate from 2.4% to 12% monthly with an equivalent APR of 4.8% – 24%. This application promises to deposit the loan in your bank account within minutes with no paperwork, no collateral, no guarantor, no hidden charges, and so many other fake promises.
Quick Loan Arena after thorough due investigation reported that Rapid Naira is a fraudulent application. It has no quick loan to offer any consumer or anyone for that matter, and it has never given any loan whatsoever before. It is just an application that is designed to steal money from innocent users and undiscerning patrons and at the end of the day give them nothing. Once you fill in your account and banking security details into their app platform, they will continuously debiting your bank account with the name FLW Professional Service, Lekki, with your banking credentials with them.
QUICK LOAN ARENA understands so many apps on Google Play are violating their policy on lending and repayment and we call on the search giant to enforce its rules and call them to order. The plight of Nigerian consumers are at stake. Regulatory authorities have also been called upon by this platform to enforce local laws on these loan sharks.
It would seem Nigeria Apex Bank (the CBN) has apparently lost clue on what to do as the Apex Bank confessed months back admitted that the quick loan apps and platform are flouting its rules on operational guidelines and yet failing to enforce the rules and landing the hammer on them.
As for ForNaira, It’s for scam not a loan app
What ForNaira app displays on Google Play Store as its features:
– Borrow up to ₦300,000
– Fast and easy access to loans, with no hidden charges
– Account is credited as soon as the loan is approved
– No collateral or guarantor needed
– our Loan App is extremely secure and reliable
– Artificial intelligence is used to run credit scoring, making loan decisions instant!
– We are available 24/7 to support you
Contrary to what is on Google Playstore, ForNaira app does the following:
- Give loans for 7 days as against the 91 to 360 days displayed in Google Play store
- Does not give loan up to #300,000
- Does not declare its real charges in the sense that, they display amount of loan to be given and what they give actually is far lesser.
- Yes they do not collect collateral but they ask for guarantors.
- Like others, 7 days loan starts counting the moment you receive money in your account and what you see on your dashboard immediately is 6 days remaining. Its never 7 days
- Failure to pay back as at when due will have their staffs harass you, threaten you and send messages to people on your contact list that you should not be trusted and be told to pay back your debt.
See what a consumer has to say about ForNaira: “ForNaira is the worst quick online loan app…just 1 day overdue and their agent sent a message to all my contacts that is was over 2 months and that I have refused to pick calls or reply to messages. Meanwhile the lady in question sent me message as at 5:45am and I replied that I will pay by 4pm, by 9am, she started sending messages to my contacts…for what she has done I will not pay a dime again. You can’t defame me and still want me to pay you after all I was still going to pay for the overdue. I have evidence.”
We have published articles on this platform in the past calling on Google to enforce its laws on this loan sharks that are predating poor Nigerians. We believe this may be part of the ongoing enforcement and we will investigate further on this.
A recent report by Bloomberg revealed several predatory loan apps are still making their way into the Play Store despite Google’s previous commitments to ban such applications. Many of these apps offer users easy money advancements with interest charges exceeding 200%, yet they require users to pay back the loan in as little as one or two weeks. This appears to directly conflict with Google’s new minimum payback policies and interest rate limits.
Bloomberg reports that many policy breaking apps like iPesa, OKash, and Zenka are most prevalent in developing countries like Nigeria, India, and Kenya, but these apps aren’t available in many other countries, including the US. We reached out to Google to ask why the company’s global policies protect users in more developed countries, yet they aren’t protecting Android users in the aforementioned nations. A Google spokesperson responded by reiterating the new policy plan and its intentions.
Apparently, many of Google’s policies vary from nation to nation. Google does not allow apps for personal loans with annual interest rates exceeding 36% in the US, but it doesn’t appear those same limitations apply to users in other countries.
“Our Google Play Developer Policies are designed to protect users and keep them safe, and we recently expanded our Financial Services policy to help protect people from deceptive and exploitative personal loan terms,” the Google spokesperson said. “When violations are found, we take action.”
Unfortunately, violations in one country may not be violations in another. That means it’s easier for predatory loan apps to take advantage of users in developing countries where many users don’t have bank accounts or credit cards. It’s unfortunate that this is the case, and we would like to see Google change its policies to create strong boundaries that truly protect users globally.
In a move to help protect its users, Google has banned apps that offer certain personal loans from the Play Store in the US. According to The Wall Street Journal, this is Google’s way of fighting payday loans, which can come with triple-digit interest rates.
Google said this policy is designed to keep users safe. In 2016, the company implemented a ban on payday-loan ads in its search browser. This new app ban takes Google’s stance against these loans one step further.
Any apps that offer personal loans with an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) of 36% or higher are no longer expected to be available on the Play Store. To keep their apps in the Play Store, lenders must adjust their products and business models to meet Google’s requirements.
15 Comments
Money that has been paid with proof of transaction slips, they keep sending messages to contacts. If their systems are faulty they should fix it properly before coming into the business!
I can’t find lcredit app on goggle again
What really happened
Bcoz I loaned from them
Ma name is George…I’m here to share my experience too with Gocash, 9ja cash, fast money, soko loan, kash kash, easy credit, okash, and other loan apps, and what they did to me and other people as well…I must say it is unfair to reach put to peoples contacts on their phone telling them all sort of lies just because a customer defaulted just for a day or two, tarnishing ones image because he or she defaulted… I feel there are better ways of retrieving their money back from customers rather than threats, alot of people have been humiliated through this means and it’s not funny, they need to be stopped at all cost, when they did that to me, I told the agent that I won’t pay a dime until they undo the damage they did to me painting me as a criminal on the run.if what I’m reading is true God bless whoever has decided to put a stop to them.
There’s bunch of foolish agent they got.
Google send me message and ask me to delete the Lcredit App because is a spam that they are trying to monitor my sms, calls recording, WhatsApp etc
Prince Theoson Emmanuel I received same notification 2 days ago from play protect.
Prince Theoson Emmanuel same with me
These guys are milking Nigerians dry. The worse is paying offline and not deducted from the app and there bye, increasing interest on a huge percentage. They are fraudsters.
Next credits,Gogash, Quick credit,Naira plus,Runcash,Cashmall, Lion cash should be removed ( low interest rate with very high service charge.
I must confess, Sokoloan, 9credit, Naira plus Ncash are the worst lending app…
They almost gave me heart attack, they level of frustrating customers is second to none. I regret associating with them.
Most of thee loan apps can ruin one’s long built reputation. I once did a review on cases and only 5 were worth mentioning. Even the 5 can come up with threats instead of negotiating resolution for long time customers when their business inflows stagnate for more than 2weeks after due date. Long time settlement like the 91days is okay but none of them give such offers even after they’ve put it in their apps.
I noticed recently most of them updated their apps from 7days to longer time but its all fake as it doesn’t work. Maybe like the author said, that Google has started looking into it and removing apps that they are just trying to fool Google.
Something must be done. Their threats and calling contacts is archaic and wicked and can cause grievous harm to the borrowers heath.
In this regard, I am one of the victims of the L-credit, Gocash and Xcredit as they normally called you when your loan is due, maybe you are sleeping or busy, it’s none of their businessif you failed to pick their calls or if you pick the call eventually, series of treats and belligerent statements will be reeling out from their end and within a minute, the next thing for them is to send a devastated, a pathetic and many unbelievable lies and false claims to those in your contacts so as to paint you badly so that people in your contact which they’ve sent some false alarm/false claims to can quickly call them to pay whatever amount of money that involved and at last; they’ll still expecting you to pay them. I have experienced their belligerent character and ungodly attitude on Monday October 25th,2021(4days) ago. Infact, we shall be grateful if all the above named fake financial institutions can be aborlished from the playstore app…
May God punish those that are adding to the problem of Nigerian populace be it directly or indirectly….
I pray, whoever that is working to tarnish my image because of the loan I have paid but always denied my evidence of payments in order to force me to repay the said amount of money with the accrued interest all the time will never go unpublished. Gocash, 9credit, Xcredit and L-credit amongst should be deleted instantly from the Google play store…..
Even 9 credit do Also such thing
Rapid Naira is a big scam