Taiwan Groups Urge Dedicated Law to Close Consumer-Finance Loopholes

Product-backed loans allow consumers to raise cash through installment purchases of goods such as phones or motorcycles. Unlike bank lending, parts of Taiwan’s non-bank financing market face gaps in oversight covering disclosures, interest charges and credit checks. Consumer groups say those weaknesses matter because opaque loan structures can deepen household debt and give fraud rings another channel to extract money from vulnerable borrowers.

Civil-society groups and lawyers said at a recent press conference that unscrupulous finance companies and loan brokers had allegedly worked with scam syndicates to steer victims into product-backed loans before taking the proceeds. They urged the government to draft a dedicated finance-company law establishing an interest-rate cap, a licensing regime and access to a joint credit-information system. No proposed cap, legislative timetable or quantified loss was disclosed in the information provided.