Editorial

Editorial policy & methodology

Last updated September 2026.

The 0–100 Caution Score

• Each lender profile carries a caution score from 0 to 100. A higher score means more borrower risk signals in the available data.
• The score blends the official SEC registry status of the entity, the volume of community reports, the severity of evidence, and the reputation weight of the reporters.
• Scores are recalculated as new verified reports, registry changes, or evidence arrive — they are living indicators, not fixed verdicts.
• The score is an algorithmic community assessment and never a judicial or regulatory finding.

Regulatory inputs that shape a profile

• SEC registry status: whether the entity appears in the official SEC list of registered lending and financing companies, and whether its authority is active, expired, or revoked.
• SEC Memorandum Circular No. 18, Series of 2019: prohibits unfair debt collection practices. Confirmed violations raise the caution score and can trigger a warning label.
• NPC Circular No. 20-01: prohibits online lenders from accessing or harvesting phone contacts, photos, and media. Contact-theft reports carry heavy risk weight.
• SEC advisories and registration rules can change; launch date alone is not treated as proof of an app's current authority. Profiles are checked against the available regulator record.
• Reported unregistered entities begin at elevated risk and are labeled accordingly until official records say otherwise.

Editorial independence

• Sponsorship and advertising are strictly separated from editorial and scoring decisions.
• Caution scores, SEC status labels, report counts, and moderation outcomes are never for sale.
• Advertisers cannot influence which reports appear, how they are moderated, or how a lender is ranked.
• Sponsored placements are always labeled #Sponsored and are visually distinct from community content.
• Only SEC/BSP-registered institutions may advertise, and predatory lenders are permanently barred.

Corrections and right of reply

• We correct factual errors when reliable evidence is provided.
• Lenders and individuals named in reports may submit a right-of-reply statement through the contact page.
• Where a dispute is credible, we may annotate the profile while the review is ongoing rather than remove verified community reports.

For sponsorship that respects these boundaries, see Sponsor & Advertise. For the full legal framing, read our disclaimer.