Almost every loan app in the Philippines puts "SEC-registered" in its ad. It sounds like a licence. It isn't. Registration means a company exists on paper. The permission to actually lend money to the public is a separate document called a Certificate of Authority, and plenty of apps have the first without the second.
Two documents, two different things
| SEC registration | Certificate of Authority | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Proof the corporation was incorporated. Any business gets one. | Permission to operate as a lending or financing company under RA 9474 or RA 8556. |
| Looks like | CS201800209 | CoA No. 1162 |
| Means the app can lend? | No | Yes |
| Can be revoked? | Rarely | Yes, and it happens |
A company that quotes only a registration number is telling you it exists. That is all.
Two real examples from this month
CashMart publishes an SEC registration number, CS201610084. When we checked, we could not confirm a Certificate of Authority against the SEC list, so we do not list it. It may well hold one, but until it is visible on the register, the registration number alone proves nothing about lending.
Digido is the opposite lesson. It held both documents for years. In 2025 the SEC revoked its authority to operate, and in 2026 affirmed the revocation and ordered it to stop lending. A Certificate of Authority is not a lifetime pass. It is checked at a point in time, and it can be taken away.
How to check one in two minutes
- Open the app's listing and find the company name in the developer field or the app description. Not the brand, the corporation.
- Go to the SEC's list of lending and financing companies at sec.gov.ph and search for that corporate name.
- Confirm the entry shows a Certificate of Authority number, and that it matches what the app claims.
- If the app claims a number that is not on the list, or claims only a registration number, treat it as unlicensed.
This is the check we run on every lender before it appears on Pautang Check, and the reason the list is short.