The Superintendence of Financial Services of the Central Bank (BCU), issued a resolution where it makes a new warning about the activity of companies that offer services and that are not registered or authorized to operate by the regulator.
This last case dates back to a complaint filed with the BCU by the Uruguayan Consortium. In that complaint it was indicated that a company that identifies itself as “Cooperativa Consorcio” and “Financiera Consorcio” offers to obtain money loans through Facebook, and also on a website (https://financieraconsorciosa.com).
To do so, it uses the name “Consorcio” and other identifying data of Consorcio del Uruguay SA, such as address, brand, colors and typography. According to the complaint, the mode of operation It is based on asking customers for a payment prior to obtaining a loan. Once the requested amount is paid, the loan is not disbursed.
“Your credit online! No paperwork; response in 5 minutes; Withdraw in less than 6 hours”, says one of the latest ads published on Facebook, which also invites you to register. “The power is in your hands! You choose the installments according to your needs. Fulfill your dreams in a few minutes”, says another of the many advertisements.
One of the ads posted on the Facebook page.
The resolution of the BCU
After verifying the denounced websites and evaluating the information presented in the complaint, The BCU warned the public that the entity or person acting under the name “CrediConsorcio.uy” or “Financiera Consorcio SA” is not registered “in any way” with the regulator. In fact, these names can lead to confusion for consumers, it is recognized.
In addition, the resolution recalled that the BCU “does not intervene in the commercial operations of third parties or participate in the offering of their products or services, nor does it sponsor any entity.”
In that sense, The regulator urges the public to “be cautious” around credit offers that have the following characteristics:
* The people or companies that offer the credit are not registered with the Central Bank of Uruguay.
* The prior disbursement of money is requested.
* There is no physical location of the company or the indicated address does not correspond to it.
On the other hand, it is recalled that in the face of this type of offer, Efforts are made to obtain clear, truthful, timely and sufficient information from the service provider, its reputation, as well as the operations and conditions to which it will be subject; in particular, prior to providing money in response to a credit application, documents, information on bank accounts, passwords or any other personal data that requires prior informed consent for processing by third parties.
In addition, it is suggested that in order to find out if the company is registered or officially authorized to operate by the BCU, the records available on the bank’s website are consulted.
Other background
That time, the complainant stated that when the loan was authorized and after making the previous payments requested, the agreed amount of money was not delivered, and additional amounts were required to be paid to continue the process.
On the other hand, in the middle of last year the BCU warned for a Uruguayan financier whose address was a museum, El País had reported. The financial company offered online loans and had several cell phone numbers as contact numbers. In addition, the address was 437 Rincón Street, when that site is the Casa Fructuoso Rivera, part of the National Historical Museum.