The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has ordered Google LLC (Play Store) and Apple Inc. (App Store) to deactivate unauthorized online banks and loan applications.
Babatunde Irukera, Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, made this known in a statement on Monday.
He said the order is in furtherance of the action taken by the Inter-Agency Joint Regulatory and Enforcement Task Force (JRETF) last Friday, which led to the shutdown of some online banks and loan apps.
According to Irukera, the order also prohibits the acceptance and presentation of new applications for the same purpose without regulatory assessment and approval.
The Commission according to the statement “admonished all the businesses that were subject of regulatory intervention on Friday, March 11, 2022, to cease and desist the interest compounding and loan repayment/collection practices that are the objects of this investigation.”
“In the event that any of these businesses continue in any of this conduct, or the Commission receives credible evidence of such, violators will be subjected to the full extent of the law including prosecution without option of administrative regulatory resolution,” the statement added.
The order does not however include those repaying any legitimate loans pursuant to fair and acceptable terms and conditions.
