How to save Hong Kong maids from loan sharks

Social enterprises and non-profit organisations are using apps and other tools to cut costs and offer cheaper loans to foreign domestic workers across Asia, who are often excluded from traditional banking

Reading Time:5 minutes

Joy Tadios-Arenas, Jared King and Rochelle Le Pine of Lender Friend. Photo: Roy Issa

Published: 12:18pm, 11 Aug 2018Updated: 12:18pm, 11 Aug 2018

With the weight of two loans on her shoulders, Ana, a Filipino domestic worker in Hong Kong, felt her only option was to borrow money from loan sharks. “All I wanted was to pay my bills on time.”

But quickly, her life spiralled out of control. “I was worried all the time, could not sleep, could not support my family back home and had to be very careful so my employer did not know about the problems I was going through,” she says.

Debt collectors would call her twice a day and their tone became increasingly threatening.

“I really did not know what to do.”

A demonstration calling on Hong Kong’s Immigration Department to review its visa policy for domestic helpers. Photo: AFP

Like her, thousands of domestic workers in Asia and the Middle East find themselves trapped in a debt cycle. For many, the problems began at the start of their immigration journey in the form of illegal agency fees. A study published this week shows that domestic workers in Hong Kong spent more than a third of their wages to pay back loans and fees to recruitment agencies.

The problem often gets compounded when workers seek additional loans to send their children to school, build a house, set up small businesses or deal with unexpected emergencies.

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