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MANILA – Filipinos are now more aware of the mechanisms against cybercrime, as evidenced by the number of complaints submitted to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
In a virtual briefing on Thursday, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said that the central bank’s Office of Market Conduct and Consumer Protection received about 20,000 complaints last year alone.
Diokno said that about 13 percent of these complaints involve fraudulent or unauthorized transactions of various financial products and services such as deposits, credit cards, electronic money (electronic money), and remittances.
“We believe that the volume of complaints we receive is an indication that more people are now more aware of the BSP consumer assistance mechanism,” he said.
Diokno said that “these complaints were forwarded to the respective financial institutions for proper handling and response.”
These cases, he said, are among the reasons monetary officials are pushing for the passage of proposed measures that will further protect consumers.
These measures include the proposed Financial Consumer Protection Act (FCPA), a consolidated version of the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act that was passed on third reading on June 2, 2020 in the House of Representatives.
Diokno said this bill “strengthens the authority of regulators to protect the interests of financial consumers.”
“This is seen as instilling discipline among financial service providers, increasing public confidence in our financial markets, and promoting financial stability. We hope that this critical bill becomes law, especially with the prevalence of fraudulent activities related to financial consumers, ”he added.
In 2020, more people used electronic channels for their financial transactions, among others, after the government imposed quarantine measures to address the rise in 2019 coronavirus (Covid-19) infections.
Previously released BSP data showed that PESONet transaction volume increased a whopping 376 percent year-on-year to 15.3 million in 2020, while InstaPay transactions increased 459 percent to 86.7 million.
These two facilities are clearing houses under the central bank’s National Retail Payment System (NRPS) program, launched in 2017 and 2018, respectively, with the aim of helping accelerate the BSP’s digital payments offering. (PNA)
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