Short-term lenders and the ‘Central Bank of Google’
Digital, short-term lending is a worldwide phenomenon, but most widely used in Africa, and some say its wildly exploitative
25 January 2020 - 10:43
New York — In August, Google announced a global crackdown on Android apps that offer short-term loans, saying it wanted to protect consumers from what it called “deceptive and exploitative” terms.
But five months later, payday-style applications offering fast money for one or two weeks are still easy to find in many countries on Google Play, the company’s marketplace for Android apps. Some charge interest rates that can exceed an annualised 200%...
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