MANILA, Philippines — The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) has joined forces with JuanHand, the country’s leading online lending platform. This partnership is dedicated to serving and protecting the underserved yet creditworthy segment of the population and foster a safe and secure online lending environment.
A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was formally signed on Oct. 18 at the National Cybercrime Hub in Taguig City. This innovative framework establishes a commitment from both parties to enhance their efforts in combating cybercrime offenses and instances of fraud specifically in the fintech lending sphere.
JuanHand and CICC will develop a data and information sharing mechanism that promotes operational and technical cooperation. Both parties will also synergize their efforts in combating cybercrime activities, improving cyber capabilities and accelerating digitalization initiatives, specifically in the fintech lending space.
Present during this landmark partnership were key representatives from CICC, headed by executive director Alexander Ramos and director Alvin Navarro. Officials from JuanHand were also present, led by president and chief executive officer Francisco Mauricio and FinVolution Group’s head of International Business Xiaodong Sun.
The MOA is a first of its kind for the CICC, a milestone toward onboarding more fintech partners in the future.
“What we see in here, more so often, is the issue of collection. There are a lot of victims who are being harassed by unscrupulous online platforms who are not even registered. And these are the concerns that we’d like to address,” CICC executive director Alexander Ramos said during the signing event.
Mauricio elaborated on the need for a fair lending environment. He noted that predatory actors have no place in the fintech lending industry and addressing the issues that hamper the online lending landscape must be addressed to boost consumer confidence.
“The last thing we want is to make the borrowing public or the underserved uncomfortable with online lending. Because if they’re uncomfortable, where would they go? Loan sharks, five-six? Those would expose them to deeper debt and worse harassment,” he added.
JuanHand is the country’s leading online lending platform that offers microloans up to P50,000. These loans are payable up to nine months with competitive interest rates of less than 0.49 percent per day. Through WeFund Lending Corp., JuanHand is registered with and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is also a founding member of the Consumer Lending Association of the Philippines (CLAP), the pioneer umbrella association of compliant and above-board fintech lending companies in the Philippines. Its parent company, FinVolution Group, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is present across established and emerging markets such as China, Indonesia, Philippines, Mexico and Pakistan.
“We want to position ourselves as a trusted, responsive, and reliable financial partner to all Filipinos. JuanHand is more than just a leader in the fintech lending sphere, but it is also a believer in the potential of the Filipinos, especially the underserved yet creditworthy segment of the population. We ultimately believe that financial literacy and inclusion lead to empowerment which then serves as an engine for national development,” said JuanHand president and CEO Coco Mauricio.