BSP affirms ‘authority’ of credit card collectors

      

Hounded no end by third-party agents hired by banks to collect from credit card holders who are either unable or unwilling to pay their debts?

If so, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has affirmed the “authority” of said collection agents to act on behalf of the banks or credit card issuers that hired them.

In an advisory in its website at www.bsp.gov.ph, the BSP said the collection agents are empowered to strike a deal with defaulting credit card holders on how the latter may settle his or her obligations.

But the BSP said any repayment scheme agreed upon by the collector and the credit card holder in payment default must be approved by the bank that issued the credit card.

“A collection agent is not an employee of the credit card issuer but is authorized to collect on its behalf,” said the BSP.

The collection agents in most instances also file collection cases in court against credit card holders in default, again on behalf of the credit card issuers that hired them.  -end-

Image  by BSP