How to Spot a Licensed Moneylender Singapore
It is crucial to do your homework and find a licensed moneylender Singapore if you are considering taking out a loan.
With financial scams and unlicensed moneylenders becoming increasingly sophisticated, protecting yourself should be your top priority. However, you shouldn’t worry. By reading this post, you’ll feel confident about spotting the right moneylender.
Ways to Identify a Legit and Licensed Moneylender Singapore
1. Check the Registry of Licensed Moneylenders
The easiest way to identify a licensed moneylender Singapore is to check with the Registry of Licensed Moneylenders provided by the Ministry of Law. The online registry is public and updated, so any legitimate money lender is included here.
If the name of the moneylender is missing in the registry, then that right there is an indicator that that moneylender is not legit. Therefore, to avoid dealing with a scammer unknowingly, you shouldn’t skip this step.
2. Check Their Advertisements
Advertisements by licensed money lenders in Singapore are reasonably tightly regulated. For example, they can only advertise through their website and place advertisements in business directories or notices within their company premises.
If you get flash ads through SMS, WhatsApp, or even social media, that’s a red flag, and it’s probably an unlicensed money lender. Usually, genuine lenders do not pursue borrowers through messages. Instead, they let the borrowers come to them.
3. Visit Their Office In Person
Money lenders operate from an actual place. They encourage borrowers to visit their offices to explain the conditions and the terms of a loan before being accepted. Any suitable lender would never fail to sit and explain the fine print so you understand what you are getting into.
Therefore, if a lender insists on offering a loan over the Internet or the phone without asking one to come into an office, then it should be suspicious.
4. Legal Operations
The licensed moneylenders are supposed to play according to the strict operations guidelines the Ministry of Law laid down. For example, depending on your income, they must not lend more than the allowable legal borrowing amount. Also, they should not have excessive interest rates or hidden fees. The maximum legal interest rate is 4 percent per month.
On the other hand, unlicensed money lenders attract clients by providing offers that are too good to be true just to entangle their victims in a certain form of debt. Therefore, if the amounts offered are suspiciously high or the repayment terms are too ridiculous, that calls for suspicion.
5. Pay Attention to Their Behaviour
The licensed, reputable lender deals politely with customers, respects their decisions and opinions, explains the terms, gives a contract copy, and listens to the various questions in our minds.
However, unlicensed moneylenders dismiss customers’ opinions and threaten them. Also, they are likely not to have written contracts. Sometimes, if they offer a written agreement, they follow it without further explanation and do not entertain any negotiations.
6. Check for Contact Information
A valid money lender will also have professional contact information that should appear on the registry. When checking the contact information, the lender should provide crucial details such as phone number, e-mail address, and place of operation.
If any of the above details are missing, then there is a big possibility that the lender is a scammer. Therefore, you should avoid engaging with such individuals and report them to the authorities to initiate legal action against their illegal operations.
Conclusion
Borrowing is a decision in which you should feel secure every step of the way. Notably, from the above discussion, you can easily recognize a licensed moneylender in Singapore.
Therefore, when searching for a legal moneylender to borrow from, always take things slowly and investigate while keeping your financial protection in mind.
