FE Credit comes under inspection for wide-scale harassment

Some customers receive phone calls ten times a day from FE Credit

During the inspection, the agency will look into claims of harassment where FE Credit contacts customers to demand payment for non-existent loans. This is stated by the Banking Supervision Agency in the feedback document for the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA).

VCA received many feedbacks and comments from customers related to FE Credit, Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank)’s wholly-owned subsidiary.

Customers complained of receiving phone calls and text messages asking for debt repayment even when they did not borrow from the bank. Some of them have been receiving calls for the last six months, at times ten calls a day. Customers claim this is tantamount to harassment and threatening.

“These calls and text messages are currently causing trouble, affecting the daily life and work of the people,” VCA stated.

While talking to the media, the communication representative of FE Credit acknowledged that some customers who had not taken up a loan did indeed receive calls and the bank is reviewing feedbacks to fix the issue. The representative said some customers or their relatives might have changed phone numbers or the bank staff could have mistyped numbers.

Reacting to customers’ comments, FE Credit said that they are upgrading and reviewing the entire system, and will take steps to discipline the officers violating banking regulations. “When this process is finished, we will report to the State Bank of Vietnam,” added the representative of FE Credit.

Earlier, numerous customers have reported becoming debtors of FE Credit after trying a free beauty service at Venessa Co., Ltd. They claimed to be swindled into buying DeAura skin care products and borrowing from FE Credit.

23,000 people have been swindled, many of whom are unemployed, freelancers or workers with very low incomes (VND2-3 million, around $100 per month). However, in the loan contract, their incomes were noted to exceed VND10 million ($440) to meet the loan conditions.

This shows that FE Credit has deliberately missed credit checks before lending money to customers, which violated the regulations on credit activities. Customers also want the authorities to intervene to clarify and protect them from fraud, as well as prevent the spread of these activities.