Huawei and Honor smartphones will be stripped of banking apps

Banks’  applications and applications of other similar organizations may stop working on smartphones manufactured by Huawei and Honor. The new restrictions on the Chinese company are reported by the Washington Post.

On August 13, Huawei’s temporary general license (TGL) expired. The license allowed the US companies to cooperate with Huawei, which is currently under sanctions. According to experts, due to the license loss, Google will stop producing security updates for Huawei smartphones and its subsidiary brand Honor. This applies to both new and old devices released before the Chinese corporation was included in the US sanctions list in May 2019.

It is reported that Huawei devices will no longer receive the SafetyNet certificate from Google. In this case, apps that require this certificate will stop working on smartphones. Experts explain that the manufacturer’s devices may be left without banking and payment applications, as well as some programs with built-in microtransactions.

Representatives of the US Commerce Department explain that the temporary delay is necessary in order for the US communication providers and other companies to find new suppliers instead of Huawei. It remains unknown whether the TGL will be extended. In a comment to the Washington Post  Huawei claims that it is assessing the potential consequences of the license expiration and is monitoring the situation.

On August 15, the Trump Administration granted the Pentagon a temporary waiver from a nationwide ban on contractors using Huawei products. The temporary suspension is valid from August 13 to September 30. During this time, defense contractors must find suppliers to substitute for the Chinese equipment.