Illegal mobile loan apps found
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Illegal mobile loan apps found

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An office worker in Bangkok points to the Fineasy app on her Oppo smartphone. Komsan Jandamit
An office worker in Bangkok points to the Fineasy app on her Oppo smartphone. Komsan Jandamit

The Bank of Thailand has identified 10 mobile applications illegally offering personal loans and is working to have them removed from the App Store and Google Play Store.

According to Pirajit Padmasuta, the central bank's senior director for financial consumer protection and financial service provider supervision, the regulator initially reported the 10 verified illegal apps offering personal loans, including Fineasy and Happy Loan, to the Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) under the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry.

The central bank expects to submit an official report to the DES Ministry this week, which will join with regulatory agencies to request Google Play Store take down these illegal apps, she said.

Recently the PDPC provided the central bank with a list of 11 suspicious mobile apps from Google Play Store to verify whether they offered personal loans without proper registration. Upon review, the central bank found only one on the list was operating legally.

Initially two allegedly unlicensed personal loan apps were discovered to be pre-installed on some Chinese mobile devices, specifically Oppo and its subsidiary Realme. Two apps are linked to Fineasy, while another third-party lending app is known as "Happy Loan" in English.

Ms Pirajit said the central bank is monitoring suspicious apps other than the 10 already identified. The bank categorised the illegal apps into two groups: unauthorised lending apps and data-stealing apps.

"The central bank continues to monitor fraudulent apps to prevent financial scams, especially amid rising cyber-risks," she said.

Regarding Fineasy and Happy Loan, 40 individuals have filed complaints against Oppo, Realme and their distributors, alleging the apps operated illegally and collected personal data in violation of the Personal Data Protection Act.

The complaints are to be reviewed by an expert committee to consider potential fines, according to the law.

The Thailand Consumers Council first called attention to these lending apps and was invited to participate in discussions with the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission and the PDPC.

The council revealed Fineasy was pre-installed on Oppo and Realme devices, and could not be uninstalled as it was embedded in the operating system.

The app was reportedly capable of sending loan invitations and accessing users' personal data, including contact lists and phone numbers.

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