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    Opera accused of offering predatory loans through Android apps (updated)

    by 
    Jon Fingas
    Jon Fingas
    01.19.2020

    Opera has frequently tried to claim the moral high ground in the web browser world, but it's being accused of using its side projects for far less virtuous behavior. Hindenburg Research has published a report alleging that Opera is running four Android apps aimed at India, Kenya and Nigeria (CashBean, OKash, OPay and OPesa) that appear to be in direct violation of Google Play Store policies forbidding predatory loans and deceptive descriptions. The apps would claim to offer maximum annual percentage rate (APR) of 33 percent or less, but the actual rates were much higher, climbing to 438 percent in the case of OPesa. And while they publicly offered reasonable loan terms of 91 to 365 days, the real length was no more than 29 days (for OKash) and more often 15 days -- well under Google's 60-day minimum.