Cashalo — Abusive or Threatening Loan Collection
Collector used threats, profanity, public humiliation, or called outside permitted hours. Prohibited under SEC Memorandum Circular 18 and BSP Circular 1048.
SEC Memorandum Circular 18's prohibited-acts list covers profanity, threats of arrest, threats to contact an employer, and calls outside the permitted window. As an SEC-registered financing company, Cashalo is subject to MC 18 enforcement by the SEC's Enforcement and Investor Protection Department, and where collection reached a borrower's contacts there is a parallel data-privacy route at the NPC. Dated call logs and message screenshots are what an EIPD-routable filing is built from.
Filing on abusive-collection requires the call log, SMS or chat threads with originating numbers, and any voicemail recordings. The SEC accepts complaints via its I-Message Mo portal (imessage.sec.gov.ph), handled by the Financing and Lending Companies Department, with enforcement carried out by the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department. This page surfaces Cashalo's public record, the documented complaint cohort, and the filing path that turns the borrower's collection-screenshot folder into an SEC-routed complaint with the supporting NPC complaint where data-side violations are present.
Legal basis (Philippines)
See the issue page for the full citation list. Primary statutes implicated by abusive or threatening loan collection include RA 11765 (FCPA, 2022), RA 3765 (Truth in Lending Act), RA 10173 (Data Privacy Act), BSP Circular 1048 / 1133 / 1160, and SEC MC 18 (2019) where applicable.
Public record — Cashalo × Abusive or Threatening Loan Collection
No documented public-record events for Cashalo on abusive or threatening loan collection yet — be the first to file.
(1 other public-record entries exist for Cashalo on unrelated issues — see the company record page.)
File the first complaint →Documented complaints
No complaints documented yet for Cashalo on this issue.
File the first complaint →Recommended actions
Related questions
How do I file a complaint against an online lending app?
File simultaneously with the SEC Financing and Lending Companies Department (FLCD) — through the SEC I-Message Mo portal (imessage.sec.gov.ph) — for SEC MC 18 violations and with the National Privacy Commission (privacy.gov.ph) for unauthorized contact-list access under RA 10173. Both agencies can suspend the lender's Certificate of Authority and order data deletion; the SEC has revoked the licenses of multiple OLPs since 2019.
How long does an SEC complaint take?
SEC's Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) typically issues show-cause orders within 30–60 days of a complete complaint and decides administrative cases within 6–12 months. Cease-and-desist orders against unregistered or egregiously violating online lending platforms have been issued in as little as 14 days. Timelines lengthen when the respondent contests the SEC's jurisdiction.
What is the SEC MC 18?
SEC Memorandum Circular No. 18, series of 2019, prohibits unfair debt-collection practices by SEC-registered lending and financing companies. It bars contacting the borrower's contacts, employer, or family without consent; using profane language; threatening criminal prosecution without legal basis; and calling between 10 PM and 6 AM. Violations carry administrative fines of ₱25,000–₱1,000,000 per count and possible suspension or revocation of the Certificate of Authority.
Can creditors call my employer in the Philippines?
No, except under narrow conditions. SEC MC 18 (2019) prohibits SEC-registered lenders from contacting your employer, family, or any third party without your prior written consent. BSP Circular 1048 imposes the same prohibition on BSP-supervised institutions. The only permitted contact is with a person you specifically designated as an emergency contact during the loan application.
Can I be jailed for not paying an online loan?
No. No one may be imprisoned for non-payment of a debt — this is a constitutional guarantee (1987 Constitution, Article III, Section 20). An unpaid loan is a civil matter, not a crime. The only way non-payment can become criminal is estafa (Revised Penal Code Article 315), which is a separate offense requiring proof of deceit at the time you took the loan — not the mere failure to pay it back. A collector who threatens you with arrest or jail over an unpaid loan is itself committing an unlawful, unfair collection practice under SEC MC 18 (2019) and RA 11765.
Can a lending app access my phone contacts?
No — an online lending app may not harvest and use your entire phone contact list. SEC Memorandum Circular 18 (2019) makes it an unfair debt-collection practice to contact anyone in a borrower's phone other than a person named as a co-maker or guarantor, and RA 10173 (Data Privacy Act) requires that any data an app collects be limited to what is necessary for a declared, legitimate purpose — a whole-contact-list upload for a solo loan fails that proportionality test. The National Privacy Commission has ordered lending apps to stop scraping contacts and to delete the data. LabanPH helps you file the SEC and NPC complaints that trigger those orders.
Related guides — Abusive or Threatening Loan Collection
Illegal Debt Collection PH — RA 11765 & SEC MC 18 Response Guide
How to respond to illegal debt collection in the Philippines — SEC MC 18, BSP Circular 1160, cease-and-desist template, evidence pack, and regulator complaint paths.
debt-collection · harassment · cease-and-desist
How to File a SEC Complaint Against an Online Lending App
Step-by-step guide to filing a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint against a Philippine online lending app — SEC MC 18 (2019), evidence checklist, and the SEC I-Message Mo portal.
sec · online-lending · harassment
Did this happen to you?
File a complaint and we will pre-fill your BSP, SEC, DTI, and small-claims letters.
Frequently asked — Cashalo × Abusive or Threatening Loan Collection
Is Cashalo SEC-registered?
Cashalo is operated by Paloo Financing Inc. (Oriente Group), an SEC-registered financing company. The brand is bound by SEC MC 18 (collection conduct) and SEC MC 3, 2022 (effective interest disclosure).
What is Cashalo's maximum interest rate?
BSP Circular 1133 caps consumer-loan effective interest at 6% per month nominal (24% per annum) and total cost (incl. penalties) at 15% per month for short-term, low-value loans. The cap was extended by BSP Circular 1165 (2023).
- Source:BSP Circular 1133 (2021)
- Source:BSP Circular 1165 (2023)
How do I report Cashalo collection harassment?
File simultaneously with the SEC via the I-Message Mo portal (imessage.sec.gov.ph, Financing and Lending Companies Department) for SEC MC 18 violations and with NPC at privacy.gov.ph for unauthorized contact-list access under RA 10173.
Can Cashalo legally call my contacts?
No. SEC MC 18 prohibits contacting any third party other than a designated co-maker without prior written consent. RA 10173 separately prohibits accessing phone contacts without explicit consent.