SEC removes 33 online lending apps on Google Play Store

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has removed 33 online lending platforms on Google Play Store with the help of Google Philippines.

The mobile apps were removed due to their false advertisements and their failure to register.

Under SEC Memorandum Circular 19, financing and lending companies are required to register their online lending platforms as business names and disclose their corporate names as well as certificate of authority numbers in their platforms and advertisements.

In November 2021, the SEC also imposed a moratorium on the registration of new OLPs under SEC Memorandum Circular 10.

SEC MC 10 provides that registered OLPs may operate and be used for online lending or financing, but will remain subject to strict monitoring.

The removal of the OLPs is in line with the SEC’s previous discussions with Google.

Under the agreement between the SEC and Google, personal loan apps operating in the Philippines without proper declaration and license attribution will be removed from Google Play Store.

In the event where the submitted license, registration or declaration is no longer valid under applicable laws, the developers are required to promptly remove the app from the Google Play Store.

Furthermore, in May last year, Google adopted a new policy which required developers with personal loan apps targeting users in the Philippines to submit a personal loan app declaration and necessary documentation before they could publish apps on Google Play Store.

Moving forward, the SEC will continue its efforts to protect existing and prospective borrowers from abusive, unethical, and illegal lenders.

It continues its campaign against illegal lending by stamping out unregistered lending platforms available for download online.

To date, the SEC has revoked the certificates of registration of 2,084 lending and financing companies which failed to secure their requisite certificate of authority (CA), and canceled the CA of 39 financing and lending companies due to various violations of applicable rules and regulations.

Aside from Google Philippines, the SEC is looking at engaging with other social media platforms for the adoption of a similar gatekeeping policy to protect consumers.