Opinion | In Vietnam, ‘Robin Hood’ borrowers are taking aim at digital loan sharks
- The country is seeing a rise in digital loans, with young borrowers increasingly being caught out by predatory lenders
- It has spawned hundreds of online groups where people share financial tips, provide support and even plot to teach loan sharks a lesson
Vietnam is at the cusp of a significant financial transformation. New lending systems and a culture of borrowing are taking over.
Digital lending is thriving, with hundreds of smartphone apps available for download. They come from banks and consumer lending firms, peer-to-peer (p2p) platforms, dubious loan companies, and moneylending gangs providing a “fast and easy” credit experience and unsecured loans within minutes.
Although the apps boost financial inclusion and align with the bid by the government and financial players to liberalise credit, they also raise public concerns over the growth of a digital subprime lending industry based on reckless and predatory lending.
Borrowers have increasingly experienced exploitation and harsh collection methods, leading them to take to social media to share their discontent. On Facebook, there are hundreds of groups filled with harassed and disgruntled borrowers, many of them young Vietnamese professionals, who pour out their grievances, provide mutual support and share tips on dealing with digital lenders.
Newcomers seek advice on which apps are more trusted or how to fulfil lending requirements that may be stringent for banks and p2p platforms but minimal for financial firms and illegitimate lenders.
Experienced borrowers share their knowledge on how to stifle harassment and cyberbullying tactics by debt collectors, telling newcomers to wipe their phone and social media data to reduce their online presence. Others offer tips on what kind of personal data to reveal or omit in a way that reassures lenders without compromising a borrower’s digital privacy.
Members also recommend borrowing from apps such as Doctor Đồng, Tamo, VDong and Cash24 which have limited means to persecute late borrowers. According to one user, these lenders “won’t go to your homes or collect your debt in real life. Apps only text and call to threaten you. All their staff bluff and pretend to be gangsters.”