Google has been fighting against predatory loans for a while now but it is now taking this fight to its app store. Google recently banned Play Store applications that advertise deceptive or harmful personal loans. These are loans that charge an annual percentage of 36% and more like payday loans. This has now been incorporated into Google’s financial policy to protect its users against exploitative terms.
Apple does not have this kind of a ban just yet. However, it has been known to review rules often to address emerging issues.
The affected lenders do not approve of this move which forces them to either lower their rates of interest or leave the market. The CEO of Online Lenders Alliance, Mary Jackson has maintained that her company’s practices are permitted by law and that this move affects genuine lenders who are providing legal loans to those who need them.
While not a lot of people will miss these lenders and their unreasonable loans, Google’s move in the direction raises the question of whether other application stores should follow suit and ban applications that are built on morally shaky grounds, but skip between legal cracks. Retailers and their approach towards e-cigarettes is an example of such a situation wherein tech giants will be able to decide whether or not some categories of business will succeed or not.
