Opera Allegedly Offering Predatory Loans Via Android Apps

As a web browser, Opera has some stiff competition, to say the least. To bolster the company’s revenue, it has apparently created short term loan apps for a number of countries. Unfortunately, a Hindenburg Research report indicates that these loan apps are in violation of Google Play Store rules.

There are four loan apps that were implicated in the report. They are OKash and OPesa which is available in Kenya, OPay in Nigeria, and CashBean in India. These apps reportedly display different loan rates than what users actually get. The apps had a loan period of 91-365 days. But according to the report, the actual term could be as short as 15-29 days.

The apps’ pages have since been updated to show 61-365 days, except OPay, which seems to have scrubbed the loan term altogether. The displayed loan period barely complies with Google’s rules on personal loan apps, but the actual term is in violation of those rules.

Naturally, Opera has responded to the report, pretty much saying the report is wrong. Here’s the statement:

The Company is aware of and has carefully reviewed the report published by the short seller on January 16, 2020. The Company believes that the report contains numerous errors, unsubstantiated statements, and misleading conclusions and interpretations regarding the business of and events relating to the Company.

You can read the full Hindenburg report linked below.

(Source: Hindenburg Research, Opera, Google via Android Police)

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