Filipinos continue to avail of financial services from legitimate online lending firms despite the government crackdown on unregistered providers.
Ellen, a 25-year-old call center agent who did not provide her full name, said she was using online lending services to support her family.
She said her income as a call center agent was not enough and most of it was used for the needs of her family. Ellen said the money she borrowed from these lending services helped her with the small business she recently put up.
Ellen said the amount she borrowed was not astronomical and so far, the arrangement with the online lending services is working out well. Ellen is one of those who still patronize online lending services despite the controversy that hounded the sector.
Lawyer Arnel Mateo, one of the legal representatives of FCash Global Lending Inc., which operates the FastCash mobile app, said there is a market out there that FastCash caters to”•a market that was otherwise excluded from the formal financial system.
“Sometimes, it is difficult to borrow from the banks and it is not easy to ask for help from relatives or friends. As they said, lending money to a friend or kin can be a bad idea. Never lend or borrow money from friends because you could lose both,” Mateo said during the Balitaan sa Maynila news forum.
Mateo, meanwhile, lauded the recent move of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Privacy Commission for making a clear distinction between online lenders that adhere to legitimate operations and fair play and those that do not follow the rules.
“We support the recent crackdown. These undesirable entities had tainted our business reputation. The SEC and NPC are doing a great job,” he said.
“FastCash will participate in any probe about online lending mainly to come out with appropriate policies to govern its business activity. It is now drafting a position paper that contains its views on online lending, stressing its intention to contribute to the drafting of appropriate policies on credit lending,” Mateo said.