The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidelines lifting the nearly five-year moratorium on new online lending platforms effective Aug. 1. Approval will not be automatic. Only licensed financing companies and lending companies that meet the new prudential, disclosure and market conduct requirements may operate borrower-facing digital platforms, with each company limited to five platforms. The framework sets minimum paid-up capital based on company type and number of platforms. Financing companies must hold PHP 15 million without a platform and between PHP 20 million and PHP 100 million for one to five platforms. Lending companies must hold PHP 5 million without a platform and between PHP 10 million and PHP 50 million for one to five platforms. Companies remain fully accountable for lending through their platforms, which will be treated as operational channels rather than separate entities. A single certificate of authority will cover each company’s branches and platforms, while platform operators must register with the Credit Information Corporation and regularly submit complete and accurate credit data. Existing companies do not need to increase capital unless they expand. Those that expand have one year from the guidelines’ effectivity to comply and may not add platforms during the transition unless they already meet the applicable capital requirement. Platforms not disclosed as supported by existing capital will be deemed delisted and may no longer operate.

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