Security Bank called me 17 times from 17 different numbers in 6 hours over ONE missed payment.
I missed one credit card due date, due Aug. 7. On Aug. 18, while at work I started getting calls from a string of numbers on my personal phone that I didn’t recognize, none labeled as Security Bank. I searched online and found out they were from Security Bank’s third-party collection partner.
I paid the full balance that same day around 11 AM (when I had a break from meetings), through the Security Bank app, using my Security Bank account (for same day posting), including the late fee and interest. Calls kept coming into the afternoon anyway.
17 calls, one day, 17 different numbers: 8:26 AM, 9:40 AM, 10:26 AM, 10:41 AM, 10:52 AM, 11:05 AM, 11:15 AM, 12:23 PM, 2:01 PM, 2:06 PM, 2:11 PM, 2:16 PM, 2:20 PM, 2:24 PM, 2:28 PM, 2:32 PM, 2:33 PM.
The 2:20-2:33 PM stretch alone: 4 calls in 13 minutes. I’m at work and can’t take personal calls during business hours, so this was genuinely disruptive on top of everything else.
I filed a formal written complaint at 11:26 AM that day with the full call log. Their response acknowledged the frequency issue but framed it as “collection-related call-outs may be initiated as part of the bank’s collections process,” and asked me to give them my preferred contact time for future calls. I followed up clarifying I wasn’t disputing the missed payment, I was objecting to the volume and the fact that calls continued after I’d paid.
They routed it to their Collections Team, promised a reply within 7 banking days. When it finally came today at 1:47 PM, the response said:
- The calls were an “approved Collection tool” used to reach customers, no further explanation given.
- They just confirmed my payment had posted and told me to disregard any further texts/emails.
They then closed the case without addressing my formal complaint about how their third party conducts collections, my questions on why the calls needed to be that frequent and from so many different numbers, and why customers are harassed with collection calls when a monetary penalty is already being imposed.
Why I think this is the wrong way to run collections:
- I missed one cycle, not a year of nonpayment.
- I was already charged late fees and interest. That’s supposed to cover the cost of being late.
- Getting called by 17 different unlabeled numbers in one day, several after I’d already paid, isn’t a reminder, it’s overkill.
- Other banks just send an SMS before the due date. That alone prevents most missed payments and costs the bank nothing compared to a call center chasing people down.
- If the late fee already compensates for the risk, what’s the aggressive call volume actually accomplishing besides making customers feel harassed?
For context, I’ve missed payments with other banks a couple of times before they started sending sms reminders of the due datw. In those cases, I just got the bill on the next cycle with a late charge and interest added, no barrage of calls, no harassment. That’s it. I though that’s how it’s normally handled.
Curious what others think, is this a normal collections practice in the Philippines that we’re all expected to accept, or does this cross a line worth reporting to BSP? Has anyone had a BSP complaint like this go anywhere?