The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is looking forward to implementing two landmark legislations – the revised Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) Charter and Financial Consumer Protection Act (FCPA) – to benefit the banking public.

“Both bills were priority legislation of the BSP and will now be enrolled and transmitted to the Office of the President for signature,” said BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno on Thursday, Feb. 3. The proposed measures were passed unanimously in the Senate. “I’d like to thank the senators for that,” said Diokno in his weekly online press chat.

Diokno said the PDIC Charter will strengthen cooperation between PDIC and BSP, benefiting depositors. DIC, an attached agency of the Department of Finance, will now be under the BSP.

On Feb. 2, the BSP chief also noted that the amendments to the Agri-Agra law was approved by the Senate on third reading. “The proposed measure will help expand financing for the agricultural sector and the MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) by making it easier to extend loans to these sectors,” he said.

“We look forward to implementing these reforms,” said Diokno.

The PDIC Charter amendments was sponsored by Sen. Sonny Angara while FCPA was filed and pursued by Sen. Grace Poe.

Diokno said both bills will empower regulators such as BSP “to better protect the banking public and promote financial consumer welfare.”

For the FCPA in particular, once it is approved as a law, the BSP will be at the forefront in its implementation and it will grant the central bank additional redress menchanism for consumer complaints. “They don’t have to go to the courts (the) BSP can resolve it,” according to BSP Director Charina B. De Vera-Yap.

The BSP is currently resolving about 9,181 new complaints, mostly filed in 2021. The resolution for all these complaints is still ongoing.

Without the FCPA, the BSP’s complaints’ resolutions process is constrained due to the central bank’s limited legal authority to adjudicate.

The FCPA, however, will ensure the BSP will have legal authority to conduct summary hearings on claims for payments or requiring reimbursements, said Diokno.

Under FCPA, the financial regulators such as the BSP and the Securities and Exchange Commission will have the power to issue a cease-and-desist order without the need for prior hearing in unfair collection practices deemed as threats or harassment against a financial consumer.

Consumers will no longer need to go to court if their claim involves a return of money from a financial service provider. This translates to a prompt and more efficient process when consumers seek reparation in financial transactions, as warranted by financial regulators.

The FCPA will also allow regulators to go after financial service providers that are responsible for credit card fraud in online shopping. These violators will have sanctions, fines, suspension, or penalties.

Diokno has said before that the BSP and other financial regulators will have the extra authority under FCPA to craft rules, to have stricter market surveillance and examination, and market monitoring.

The BSP has been promoting the fair treatment of financial consumers. It recently issued Memorandum No. 2021-069 to remind BSP-Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs) to uphold fair treatment of financial consumers under the BSP’s Financial Consumer Protection (FCP) Framework.

“Under the FCP Framework, BSFIs must treat clients fairly, honestly, and professionally at all stages of their relationship, and provide positive customer experiences,” said Diokno.

“Practices that discriminate or take advantage of clients, including vulnerable groups like low-income earners or persons with disability, are contrary to this standard,” he added.

The BSP explained that fair treatment is a core principle of the FCP Framework, which also requires BSFIs to observe customer-centric standards of business conduct on disclosure and transparency, protection of client information, effective recourse, and financial education and awareness.