Bangkok (VNA) - The Bank of Thailand has identified 10 mobile applications illegally offering personal loans and is working to have them removed from the App Store and Google Play Store.
According to Pirajit Padmasuta, the central bank's senior director for financial consumer protection and financial service provider supervision, the regulator initially reported the 10 verified illegal apps offering personal loans, including Fineasy and Happy Loan, to the Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) under the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry.
The central bank will coordinate with regulatory agencies to request Google to remove these illegal applications from the app store.
Notably, besides above-mentioned applications, there are two unlicensed personal loan apps that were found to be pre-installed on some mobile devices from Oppo and its subsidiary Realme. These apps were reportedly capable of sending loan invitations and accessing users' personal data, including contact lists and phone numbers.
Regarding Fineasy and Happy Loan, 40 individuals have filed complaints against Oppo, Realme and their distributors, alleging the apps operated illegally and collected personal data in violation of the Personal Data Protection Act. The complaints are to be reviewed by an expert committee to consider potential fines, according to the law./.
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