The marginalized community is one of the sectors that directly receives the detrimental effects of the situations and issues in the socio-economical aspect. Online lending apps became one of the ways of the marginalized to cope with their immediate needs. In this study, the factors and causes of the marginalized community’s decision to use the service of online lending apps is tackled, as well as their challenges and experiences from using online lending apps. This study compares the negative experience and positive outcomes from the online lending apps in the context of patronage, method of collection, and the specific experiences of the informants. Through the research design phenomenology, it was found from the experiences of the eight informants that the usage of online lending apps had a dominantly negative impact in comparison to the positive outcomes wherein most of the informants experienced harassment, threats, and found an urge to stop the patronage of online lending apps. Illegal aspects were also found in the methods of online lending apps which fall under harassment and cybercrime. Lastly, it was found that money lending apps often take the forms and culture of predatory loans and loan and predatory sharks. The challenges and experiences of the informants is reflected in the conclusion that online lending apps should not be patronized or used and the bodies of the government and law should intervene in this societal issue towards justice for all the victims of online lending apps.
Keywords: Cybercrime, Marginalized Sector, Money Lending Apps, Online Lending.
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