A bill aimed at protecting credit card holders in Philippines from excessive charges has been given the green light by the Senate.
The proposed House Bill 5417, also known as the Philippine Credit Card Industry Regulation Law, offers the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) supervisory powers over all credit card issuers, acquirers, and transactions. It calls for confidentiality of information, as well as mandates credit card issuers to set up a consumer assistance unit within their organisations.
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The bill also outlines suitable collection practices, and holds the credit card issuer responsible for the actions of its collection agents.
Chairman of the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies Osmeña said: "The end game for the bill is to be a catalyst that would establish a national policy on responsible credit services by the card issuers on the one hand and responsible debt management for the card holders on the other."
The bill also mandates that if the due date for a credit card falls on a weekend or a regular national holiday, the card payment due date be moved automatically to the next business day.
Violating any provision of the bill will lead to imprisonment of two to 10 years or a fine of PHP50,000 ($1,044.83) to PHP200,000 ($4,179.34) or both, Osmeña added.
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By GlobalData
