67 online lenders summoned for shaming clients

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has summoned 67 online lenders for debt shaming their clients, choosing to reach out to them through newspaper publications after the agency could not pin down their physical addresses.

The NPC published on Friday, Oct. 4, an order for summary hearing directed at a long list of apps, whose agents or representatives used the personal information of their clients “to harass, threaten or coerce them to settle their loans,” the order read.

The order was published in newspapers of general circulation after the NPC could not send individual notices to the companies involved. They, including their respective boards of directors, were ordered to appear for a summary hearing at the PICC Complex along Roxas Boulevard in Manila on October 15.

At this point, it is not clear how many companies operated the 67 apps, since it was possible that one company would operate several platforms. The order listed only the names of the mobile apps.

This is also separate from the three online lending companies that NPC had charged with similar violations in September.

Leandro Aguirre, deputy NPC commissioner, said in a text message that corporate names, physical addresses or e-mail addresses “cannot be identified for purposes of service of orders or notices.”

This marked another development in the ongoing pursuit of companies who use the personal information of their clients to threaten them to settle their debts, a tactic that involves public shaming over unpaid loans of as little as P1,000.

“Failure to appear or comply with this order may warrant the issuance of a temporary ban on the processing of personal data and the submission of the complaints for decision based on individual evidence,” the order read.

The list of apps include Cashalo, but the NPC could neither confirm nor deny if this was the same mobile platform of  Gokongwei-owned JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Hong Kong-based Oriente.

Last month, NPC’s fact finding team had filed charges against three online lending companies which accounted  for 61 percent of the 921 complaints received by NPC since July last year.

These companies were Fynamics Lending Inc., which operates the PondoPeso app; Unipeso Lending Co., which operates the Cashlending app; and Fcash Global Lending Inc., operator of Fast Cash app.

The three companies and their directors were given 10 days last month to respond to the charges, which included noncompliance with the legal requirements of processing personal data as well as malicious and unauthorized disclosure.

Aguirre told reporters on Thursday, Oct. 3, that Fynamics had asked for more time while the two others have filed motions to dismiss the charges.

He deferred from discussing the merits of the responses, which would be judged by the agency’s commissioner and deputy commissioners, including himself.  He, however, said that the commission hoped to resolve the cases before yearend./TSB

List of 67 online lending apps

1. Akulaku

2. Batis Loan

3. Cash bus

4. Cash flyer

5. Cash loan

6. Cash moto

7. Cash to go

8. Cash warm

9. Cashafin

10. Cashaku

11. Cashalo

12. Cashaso

13. Cashmoney loan

14. Cashope

15. Cashwhale

16. Crazy Loan

17. Credit coin

18. Credit peso

19. Crutchpil

20. First lending

21. Flash cash

22. Happy cash

23. Hello papaya

24. JK Quick Cash Lending

25. Kwago

26. Lalapeso (Mintwagon Lending Corp)

27. Lending cash

28. Light credit

29. Loan champ

30. Loan motto

31. Loan wallet

32. Mabilis cash

33. Mango cash

34. Mango loan

35. Mcmpire

36. Megaloan

37. MF cash (Microdot Lending Corporation)

38. Moola lending

39. One cash

40. Online loans Pilipinas

41. Pautang peso

42. Pera advance

43. Pera express

44. Pera lending

45. Pera Pocket (Rainbow Cash)

46. Pera4u

47. Peso legend

48. Peso lending

49. Peso now

50. Peso online

51. Peso Q

52. Peso to Go

53. Peso tree

54. Peso wallet

55. Peso.ph 

56. Peso2go

57. Pesomine

58. Pesos ph

59. Pesos.ph 

60. Pinoy cash

61. Pinoy peso

62. Pondo pocket

63. QCash

64. Sell loan

65. Super cash

66. Super peso

67. Utang pesos