SEC Philippines Plans to Lift Ban on New Online Lending Platforms

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines is planning to end its suspension on the registration of new online lending platforms.

To facilitate this, the regulator published draft guidelines on 12 March aimed at increasing credit accessibility whilst enforcing stronger consumer protections.

Under the proposed framework, financing and lending businesses will face updated paid-up capital requirements determined by their digital footprint.

Lending companies must maintain between PHP 10 million for non-digital operations and PHP 50 million for running up to 10 platforms.

Meanwhile, financing firms require between PHP 20 million and PHP 100 million for similar operational scales.

Companies are restricted to a maximum of 10 online platforms and will be granted a three-year window to comply with these financial thresholds.

The SEC is also shifting towards a single-licence policy, replacing individual branch certificates with a unified authority covering all office locations.

As a result, annual licensing charges will transition to an asset-based model, costing between 0.10% and 0.35% of a company’s total assets.

To address abusive debt collection practices, the new rules strictly forbid operators from scraping a borrower’s mobile contacts or social media data.

Furthermore, the new rules ban automated debt collection messages, except for neutral payment reminders.

The new guidelines also prohibit lenders from outsourcing core lending functions and require them to utilise the Credit Information Corporation’s data for evaluating borrowers.

The public has until 25 March to submit feedback on these proposed regulations.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Philippines based on an image by thanyakij-12 via Freepik.

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