Now competition commission to look at payday ‘highwaymen’
Following its investigation of the top 50 payday loan companies, the OFT has referred the industry to the Competition Commission. Michael Ossei, personal finance expert at** Uswitch.com, says:** “The OFT has come to the conclusion that we have known all along – that payday lenders are operating as modern day highwaymen holding vulnerable consumers to ransom.
“These unscrupulous firms have been flooding the market with fast cash that is completely unregulated and that has been getting consumers intoxicated with debt. The bright lights of their celebrity advertising and slick, simple to use websites have lured people in, but have failed to offer any real remedy once the debt hangover sets in.
“Hopefully the Competition Commission will look at every minute detail of these practices, but in particular we want to see them investigate the lack of affordability checks and the ways in which money is collected from consumers. When the rest of the personal finance industry has made every effort to lend responsibly, the failures of payday lenders stick out like a sore thumb.
“It is good to see that the heavyweights have been called in at last and we look forward to seeing the outcome of Monday’s Government summit which should dig further into what is happening. The Competition Commission has the power to shake up this industry and stamp out bad practice – but this needs to happen sooner rather than later.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Charlotte Nunes
Phone: 020 7148 4664
Email: charlotte.nunes@uswitch.com
Twitter: @uswitchPR
About us
It’s all about “U”!
Thank you for indulging us over the last 20 years by using a small ‘u’ and a big ‘S’ when writing about our brand in your articles.
We are delighted to let you know that you are now off the hook - it’s big U’s all the way (and small s’s) as we undertake our biggest ever rebrand - so let your autocorrect go wild!
About Uswitch
Uswitch is the UK’s top comparison website for home services switching. Launched in September 2000, we help consumers save money on their gas, electricity, broadband, mobile, TV, and financial services products and get more of what matters to them. Last year we saved consumers over £373 million on their energy bills alone.
Uswitch is part of RVU, a new business that also owns Money.co.uk and Bankrate.
If you would no longer like to receive our press releases please email prteam@uswitch.com with 'unsubscribe'.