Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros submitted a Senate resolution requesting an official investigation into unauthorized transactions, scams, and other irregularities in mobile financial services.
The move seeks to address fintech user issues, including the recent unauthorized transactions in leading mobile financial service provider GCash after some of its users experienced their money being transferred to unknown phone numbers.
Senate Resolution 1234 proposes that the upper chamber review existing rules and regulations governing the financial technology sector, as there is no legislative framework in place to ensure stability, transparency, public trust, and inclusion.
“Mobile financial services have become a part of daily life for millions of Filipinos, and the fintech sector has been an important driver of economic growth and financial inclusion. GCash alone has an estimated 76 million users who posted P6 Trillion worth of transactions in 2022—that is almost equal to our national budget next year,” Hontiveros said.
“Many people benefit from mobile financial services, especially those who are unable to open a bank account. We need a law that will protect the welfare of every Filipino who uses digital wallets, especially if there is a scam, hacking, or other irregularity,” she added.
GCash operator G-Xchange Inc. attributed the transfers to errors in an “ongoing system reconciliation process” and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has since stated that the incident is “an internal issue” rather than external hacking.
However, Hontiveros’ resolution noted “similar incidents occurred in 2023, in which multiple GCash accounts were compromised using ‘phishing attacks’ staged through various online gambling platforms.”
The senator also pointed to warnings by the DICT on phishing attempts disguised as official text messages from GCash or PayMaya, another fintech e-wallet service.
According to Hontiveros, the messages were supposedly sent using a device called an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catcher, which monitors and intercepts mobile data traffic by posing as a cell site.
“The list of risks and complications that threaten the earnings of mobile financial service users grows longer every day. We urgently need upgraded policies to ensure that mobile financial service providers and fintech firms observe the necessary level of care and accountability in handling digital transactions,” Hontiveros said.
