SEC Lifts Five-Year Moratorium on New Online Lending Platforms

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it will officially lift its nearly five-year moratorium on new online lending platforms (OLPs) effective August 1. According to the regulatory body, the move comes alongside the introduction of a new regulatory framework under Memorandum Circular No. 20, Series of 2026 (MC 20), which establishes disclosure, market conduct, and capital requirements for financing companies (FCs) and lending companies (LCs) operating digital credit systems.

The new circular applies to all newly registered, existing, and prospective financing and lending firms that utilize digital applications, mobile apps, or web-based systems to offer credit to the public. SEC Chairperson Francis Lim stated in a press release that while the commission promotes financial innovation, the guidelines are designed to prevent predatory and unfair lending practices through enhanced consumer safeguards and reporting mechanisms.

Framework and Platform Disclosures

The lifting of the moratorium does not grant automatic or unconditional approval to digital lending platforms. The SEC noted that only duly licensed financing and lending companies that fully comply with MC 20 requirements will be permitted to operate borrower-facing OLPs.

Newly incorporated financing and lending companies must submit their business plans within 60 days of receiving their certificate of authority to operate. Furthermore, companies operating OLPs are required to disclose and maintain accurate data for each platform, including names, mobile applications, websites, domain names, and platform links. The SEC retains the authority to refuse, suspend, delist, or modify the recording of any platform found in violation of these rules.

Tiered Capital Requirements

To align regulatory oversight with the operational risks of digital lending, the SEC is imposing new paid-up capital requirements based on the number of platforms a company operates. Additionally, the commission has instituted a strict limit of five OLPs per financing or lending company to prevent excessive consumer debt exposure and limit systemic market risks.

Financing companies that do not operate an OLP must maintain a minimum paid-up capital of P15 million, while lending companies without an OLP are subject to a P5 million requirement. For firms operating platforms, the capital requirements scale as follows:

• Financing Companies: P20 million for one OLP, P40 million for two, P60 million for three, P80 million for four, and P100 million for five OLPs.
• Lending Companies: P10 million for one OLP, with an additional P10 million required for every new platform up to a maximum cap of P50 million for five OLPs.

Existing financing and lending companies are not required to adjust their capital immediately unless they choose to expand their operations. If they expand, existing firms have one year from the effectivity of MC 20 to meet the new capital thresholds, or they must reduce their total number of platforms to match their existing capital level.

Single License Policy and Credit Reporting

The new guidelines implement a Single Certificate of Authority (CA) policy, meaning each financing or lending company will receive only one certificate covering all activities, regardless of geographical location or branch count. Separate certificates will no longer be issued for individual branches or individual online lending platforms.

The SEC clarified that OLPs will not be treated as separate legal entities or independently authorized units, but rather as operational channels of the parent financing or lending company. All platform names must be registered and disclosed to the commission as official business or trade names.

Under the new mandate, all financing and lending companies operating OLPs must register with the Credit Information Corporation (CIC). The guidelines require these companies to regularly submit complete and accurate credit data information in compliance with Republic Act No. 9150, also known as the Credit Information System Act.

This article is published on BitPinas: SEC Lifts Five-Year Moratorium on New Online Lending Platforms

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