The Financial Services Authority (OJK) said it has initiated legal action against 3,631 illegal online lenders since 2018 amid intensified monitoring of existing online lending companies.

“By collaborating with law enforcers, ministries, and Investment Alert Task Force officers, we have taken concrete measures to screen and take actions against illegal online lenders,” OJK’s executive head for non-bank financial industry monitoring, Riswinandi, stated during a discussion on eradicating illegal online lending in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The collaboration is necessary as OJK needs assistance from the authorities to handle illegal online lender issues in Indonesia, he added.

Illegal online lenders have become a stain on the positive image that peer-to-peer financial technology industry actors have built, Riswinandi said.

The industry intends to provide a new and accessible alternative to satisfy people’s financial needs, he added.

The OJK official highlighted the importance of public education to help people distinguish between legal and illegal online lenders.

“As a preventive measure, the OJK has implemented public education programs through OJK social media, public webinar, and public lectures conducted by consumer protection experts, Investment Alert Task Force, and a monitoring task force,” Riswinandi informed.

Besides enhancing public education, the OJK has also developed the Fintech Lending Data Centre to supervise around 102 legal online lending companies that have been integrated with the system amidst continued integration of other legal companies with the supervisory system, he explained.

Integration with the Fintech Lending Data Centre would provide direct access to OJK to monitor peer-to-peer lending activities provided by the companies, such as loan limit monitoring, 90-days success rate monitoring, and adherence to loan distribution principles, the official said.

Source: Antara News