How do you tell a if a Moneylender in Singapore is a legal one? Here are some tell-tale signs:
According to the IPTO rules and privacy acts, moneylenders should not advertise their services in the form of telemarketing or SMS marketing. The penalties for advertising these services are harsh. Moneylenders can easily lose their licenses if they are caught.
However, many illegal money lending services use SMS and telemarketing to market their services to unsuspecting consumers. It is important to avoid these services.
Moneylenders often claim that they are able to provide instant cash for approved loans. The truth is that a legal moneylender will never use online money transfers to make payments for money. Only illegal moneylenders would use such methods as there would be no paperwork and therefore no way of tracing where the money came from.
Legal moneylenders will require you to come into the office to sign the contract before they can give you the money. This applies even for those who allow you to apply for the loan online.
The easiest way to identify a legitimate moneylender is to check with the Registry of Moneylenders. All licensed moneylenders are registered on this registry. They are required to abide by certain laws and regulations in order to maintain their registered status. Only moneylenders serious about running a legitimate business will strive to maintain their license by abiding with all the regulations.
A legal moneylender takes the personal information of its clients seriously. Such lenders will never require their clients to disclose their personal information over the phone. It is important for you never to divulge information such as your Sing Pass details over the phone to a third party.
SingPass verification ought to be done on site and in person. Legal moneylenders will require you to come with your personal details for verification when your application has been approved.
It is important to carry out your own research on the lender you are interested in. Apart from checking to ensure that it is registered with the Registry of Moneylenders, it is also important to look for further information about the lender online. There are various websites that provide independent reviews on moneylenders. You can visit these websites to see what others are saying about the lender you are interested in. This will help you avoid any illegal moneylenders.
SINGAPORE: Two men have been arrested for suspected involvement in helping an unlicensed moneylending syndicate, police said on Thursday (Jun 18).
Preliminary investigations revealed that the men, both aged 48, were believed to have assisted an unlicensed moneylending syndicate to obtain Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) from debtors, said police. These were used to perform ATM transactions related to unlicensed moneylending businesses.
The suspects were arrested near Bukit Batok Central on Wednesday. Police also seized four ATM cards and three mobile phones as case exhibits.
Both suspects will be charged in court on Friday. First-time offenders found guilty of carrying on the business as an unlicensed moneylender or helping in the unlicensed moneylending business could face a fine of between S$30,000 and S$300,000, up to four years in jail and up to six strokes of the cane.
Sources: Channel NewsAsia
Do not borrow from unlicensed moneylenders. Verify that a moneylender is licensed by checking the list of licensed moneylenders. “Click here to access the list of licensed moneylenders.”
Notwithstanding that the moneylenders are licensed, be mindful if they:
Such practices are not acceptable. If you encounter them, you should report the moneylender to the Registry of Moneylenders, with information such as the moneylender’s business name, licence and contact numbers.
To find out more about unlicensed moneylenders, you may click on this link: http://www.spf.gov.sg/ahlong/
