Senate Approves Financial Consumers Protection Act in Light of Increasing Cybercrimes

The Financial Consumers Protection Act or Senate Bill 2488, aimed at protecting financial consumers from increasing cases of cybercrimes, was approved by the Senate on Wednesday during its third and final reading. Senators voted 19-0-0, which was later signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on the same day.

Under the measure, Filipino consumers are strengthened to have “equitable and fair treatment, disclosure and transparency of financial products and services, protection of consumer assets against ready and misuse, data privacy and protection, and the timely handling and redress of complaints.”

Senator Grace Poe, who sponsored the bill, noted that a total of 2,456 complaints were filed from 2020 to 2021 — according to the data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) — which costs roughly around ₱540 million. Poe added that between 2019 and 2021, losses due to cybercrimes such as identity theft and phishing have amounted to ₱2 billion. “It is our hope that this bill gives consumers peace of mind that their hard-earned money will not be lost or taken away without any explanation or accountability,” she explained.

The senator also affirmed the deepening need to foster trust between financial institutions and consumers in order to aid the BSP’s goal of attaining at least 70% of Filipinos with bank accounts by 2023. “Let’s not waste the newfound confidence of people who shifted to online banking during the pandemic. The bigger goal is financial inclusion for every Filipino,” added Poe.

Sources: GMA News, Inquirer