Credit Information Corporation’s (CIC) of the Philippines has Issued a Public Advisory

The Credit Information Corporation’s (CIC) of the Philippines has issued a public advisory concerning the misuse of its name and logo.

ADVISORY TO THE PUBLIC

On the malicious use of Credit Information Corporation’s (CIC) name and logo by online lending platforms

24 February 2022

As the Credit Information Corporation (CIC) continuously receives concerns about individuals and companies using the CIC’s name and logo for ill motives including intimidation to collect debt, the CIC would like to once again remind the public that the agency, is not connected with any lending, finance, or debt collection company.

Further,

The CIC DOES NOT collect debt payments.
The CIC DOES NOT send payment notices in any form on behalf of any company;
The CIC DOES NOT blacklist borrowers in its database;
The CIC DOES NOT resolve negative debt issues between the lender and borrower; and
The CIC DOES NOT ask borrowers directly for any information.
The CIC IS a public credit registry and NOT a lending company.

When dealing with online lending applications (OLA), the public is highly advised to do the following:

Verify if the lending, financing, or online lending company is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

As the SEC is the governing agency of the abovementioned financial institutions, it has a complete list of authorized lending, financing, and online lending companies with Certificate of Authority (CA):

List of financing companies;
List of lending companies; and
List of recorded online lending platforms.

In the event that you experience abusive debt collection practices from them, you may file a formal complaint with the SEC by following the step-by-step process provided in their website.

If the online lending platform does not have a CA, please send an email complaint to the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EPD) of the SEC at epd@sec.gov.ph for appropriate action.

The CIC also encourages the public to review the permissions being requested by an OLA upon downloading, including its terms and conditions. Please refer to the applicable laws, rules, and regulations regarding the operations of these online lending companies as issued by the SEC.

If you have received any type of notice or communication where the name of CIC is used, including misrepresentations that the authors or source of the same are CIC personnel, please immediately report them to the CIC by sending a message through our official Facebook page (https://web.facebook.com/creditinfo.gov.ph) or via email at cichelpdesk@creditinfo.gov.ph.

Rest assured that the CIC is one with the SEC and other relevant government agencies in the campaign against abusive lending and unlawful debt collection practices.

The Credit Information Corporation (CIC), a government-owned and controlled corporation, was created by Republic Act No. 9510, otherwise known as the Credit Information System Act (CISA). The primary mandate of CIC is to establish a comprehensive and centralized credit information system for the collection and dissemination of fair and accurate information relevant to, or arising from, credit and credit-related activities of all entities participating in the ecosystem.