SECP puts out a list of the best digital loan apps.

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) posted a list of digital lending apps that are licensed or under review. This will help people stay away from apps that aren’t legal.

This happened a day after Google stopped personal loan apps on the Playstore from viewing the photos and contacts of Pakistani users.

The whitelist is on the SECP’s website and will help the world’s biggest tech company check that apps have been allowed by the government before putting them on the Playstore as of May 31, 2023. This is according to a statement from the SECP.

“The whitelist has the names of approved apps owned by licensed Non-Banking Financial Companies, as well as the apps of licensed NBFCs that were operating as of December 27, 2022 and have asked to be approved.”

SmartQarza, UdharPaisa, Zaroorat Cash, and Barwaqt are among the apps on the list that have been cleared or are being looked at.

The regulator pointed out that Circular 15 says that apps have to follow digital lending standards. This means that they have to have suitable cybersecurity measures and controls to protect users’ privacy and limit access to their contacts and photo galleries.

“SECP encourages all NBFCs that do digital loans to follow the updated requirements in Circular 15 and send in the necessary paperwork for app approval as soon as possible to avoid any trouble.

“Potential borrowers should also check the app’s status on SECP’s Whitelist before using any digital lending app,” the statement said.

Several phone apps in the Google Playstore claim to offer loans with low interest rates and easy payments. But they want access to the users’ info, such as their phone galleries and contact lists. A lot of these apps are fake.