Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment has reported 700+ dubious apps to app stores and regulators
Saikat Mitra, Vice President & Head of Trust & Safety, Google APAC
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, 19 October 2023: At Google for India 2023 event today, Google announced that its collaborating with industry body Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE) and onboarding them as a priority flagger, building on its consistent efforts to combat predatory digital lending apps on Play Store in India. This collaboration aids the goals of Google’s new safety initiative, DigiKavach, that aims to safeguard people from increasingly sophisticated financial scams wrought by online criminals by working with industry experts.
As part of this, FACE will support Google with market intelligence to inform detection and enable swift action against predatory personal loan apps in India that are non-compliant with Play Store’s policies.
Sugandh Saxena, CEO, FACE, claimed, “Reporting of hundreds of illegal lending apps by FACE has prevented lakhs of customers from falling prey. Google has taken commendable steps in this space and established a stringent policy framework to prevent bad actors. These collective efforts have helped mitigate user harm and reduce the number of predatory apps we’re seeing today. Our collaboration with Google marks a crucial step in our endeavor to enable a safe environment for consumers to access digital lending. The convergence of FACE’s market intelligence with Google’s efforts will add another critical layer of defense as these apps evolve in sophistication and speed.”
Saikat Mitra, Vice President & Head of Trust & Safety, Google APAC, said, “At Google, we are doubling down our efforts to protect people against ever-evolving scams, malware, and fraud. FACE has been doing commendable work in mitigating user harm by fraudulent loan apps, and we’re pleased to collaborate with them to collectively build up our defenses and protect users. The combination of their market expertise and our rigor across threat intelligence, policies, and enforcement will strengthen our collective efforts to fight predatory loan apps and enable a safe user experience.”
In the last 15 months, FACE has reported 700+ dubious apps to app stores, regulators and government authorities. In 2022, Google reviewed and took necessary enforcement action on more than 3,500 personal loan apps for violations of Play policy requirements in India.
