By Sarah Chang

The next time you receive calls offering you loans, don't write them all off as licensed moneylenders breaking the rules. They could well be the big boys calling: banks.

Such was the case for civil servant Ricky Ho, in his 30s, who received several calls he thought were made by licensed moneylenders breaking new rules set out by the Registry of Moneylenders and Pawnbrokers.

The new measures, which kicked in on Tuesday, state that advertising via fliers, newspaper classified ads and telemarketing are illegal.

What shocked Mr Ho was how the "moneylenders" asked him to recommend friends who might need their personal-loan services. The Registry of Moneylenders and Pawnbrokers confirmed that this is not allowed.

But, when my paper called one of the "moneylenders", it turned out to be a third-party sales and marketing agency - called eFusion Group - engaged by Standard Chartered Bank.

The agency representative contacted said initially that he was "from the bank", but later identified himself as an eFusion employee, after his identity was queried.

According to eFusion's website, the firm is also the sales partner for Maybank's latest consumer-banking campaign.

A Stanchart spokesman confirmed that the bank engages third-party agencies to offer products and promotions to customers.

She said that the bank goes through "a stringent process" before engaging third-party agencies, and reviews their performances regularly, including their service-delivery standards. She added that this is "in line with industry practice".

Another financial institution, OCBC Bank, did not confirm if it employs third-party agencies for such telemarketing purposes.

But the bank's head of consumer unsecured lending, Ms Renee Ker, said that it does not share OCBC's customer database with external parties for the telemarketing of personal loans.

United Overseas Bank (UOB), unlike Stanchart, does not engage third-party agencies, but has its own in-house telemarketing team.

The spokesman said that telemarketing calls are made to offer customers financial services that might benefit or interest them.

Mrs Ong-Ang Ai Boon, director of the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), said that banks here follow the Telemarketing Guidelines for the Financial Industry issued by the Contact Centre Association of Singapore.

Under the guidelines, banks have to maintain a Do Not Call list. Customers who do not find a bank's telemarketing calls beneficial can apply to be put on the list and not be contacted.

This is similar to the proposed Do-Not-Call Registry by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica). The registry allows consumers to opt out of all unsoli- cited telemarketing calls and text messages.

It is part of proposed data-protection legislature that Mica expects to table in Parliament next year.

Banks contacted by my paper said that they do maintain Do Not Call lists and abide by them. Their websites also publish information about how customers can apply to be put on the Do Not Call lists.

Asked if Mica's proposed Do-Not-Call Registry will supersede current guidelines for banks, Mrs Ong-Ang said that ABS will monitor and review consumers' feedback and work closely with its member banks to address consumers' concerns.

She said that this is done "with the aim of lifting industry standards and improving customer service".

schang@sph.com.sg

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