Payday loan price cap comes into force but unintended consequences may already be starting to show January 2, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) controversial cap on the cost of payday loans comes into effect today. The rate of interest and fees charged on payday loans will now be limited to 0.8 per cent per day. The changes are also meant to ensure that if a borrower defaults they will not need to pay [...]
Wonga cuts interest rates and fees as FCA clamps down December 16, 2014 Wonga is capping interest rates on its loans at 0.8 per cent per day and is limiting the amount of debt its borrowers can rack up, the troubled payday lender announced yesterday. The move comes in response to new rules from City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Its crackdown on the sector is expected to [...]
Labour adviser Lord Mitchell forecasts Wonga end as boss Tim Weller quits November 20, 2014 Payday lender Wonga lost its third chief executive in a year as interim boss Tim Weller was yesterday revealed to have left the embattled firm. Labour peer Lord Mitchell – who advises Ed Miliband on enterprise – unusually seized on the troubles to forecast the demise of the group. “Another Wonga CEO resigns [...]
Wonga’s fallen soldiers: Errol Damelin, Tim Weller and Niall Wass – its lost chief executives November 20, 2014 To lose one chief executive may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. Unfortunately, Wonga has just lost its third: today it emerged Tim Weller, who had been the company's interim chief exec since May, stepped down in October, according to filings at Companies House. Which just seems sloppy… So who are the [...]
Payday lender Wonga loses another chief executive as Tim Weller steps down after just six months November 20, 2014 Embattled payday lender Wonga has lost another boss. Tim Weller, who had been the company's interim chief exec since May, has stepped down, according to filings at Companies House. Weller was brought in as interim after Niall Wass left this May. The company's founder, Errol Damelin, stepped down in November 2013. Chairman Andy Haste, who [...]
We got it Wronga says Wonga: Payday loan firm vows to behave in future November 18, 2014 A top Wonga executive gave a grovelling apology in parliament yesterday for the way the firm had treated customers in the past. And he promised to work harder to do the right thing in future. The payday lender has written to 27,000 customers to offer redress for mistreatment – for instance, to make amends for [...]
Will the FCA’s cap on payday lender charges lead to an upsurge in the use of loan sharks? November 11, 2014 John Lamidey, senior partner at Arminius Associates and former chief executive of the Consumer Finance Association, says Yes. There has already been a significant increase in community illegal lending. The Illegal Money Lending Team for England saw a 62 per cent rise in 2013-14 for successful prosecutions. An estimated 310,000 households are borrowing from illegal [...]
Financial Conduct Authority slaps payday lenders with price cap November 11, 2014 The UK’s 400 payday lenders could be hit by a new cap on lending due to come into force in January, after an investigation into the controversial payday loan market by the financial regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said firms will have to cap lending costs at 0.8 per cent per day, with a [...]
Complaints double as payday loan brokers accused of hiding charges October 29, 2014 Payday loan brokers are stinging vulnerable customers with enormous hidden charges, the Financial Ombudsman Service warned yesterday. The agency said it had seen a sharp rise in complaints about the brokers; it has logged 11,500 since April, around double the number of complaints seen in the same period last year. Banks have been inundated with complaints [...]
Payday lenders like Wonga face new regulation as CMA proposes price comparison websites and clearer fees October 9, 2014 Payday lenders are facing a major shake-up after the competition watchdog laid out plans to curb the costs of loans for consumers. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said lenders should make their products available on price comparison sites to increase competition among firms amid a number of proposals for reforming the payday loan market. [...]