17.09.2012
BBC News Personal Finance Correspondent, Simon Gompertz, writes on his blog today that loans and profits at high interest lender Wonga have soared in the last 12 months.
Simon writes:
Wonga’s loans quadrupled last year to nearly 2.5 million, despite the fact that it turns down most applications.
And its profits soared at a similar rate, to £46m.
Yet Wonga is just one player, albeit a big one, in a burgeoning industry.
Just to remind you, it lends small amounts, with a £400 maximum, for a few weeks at rates which can be made to look sky high if they are annualised.
The official APR or Annual Percentage Rate which Wonga has to show on its website is 4,214%.
(Wonga “explains” that it doesn’t lend for 12 months and , even if it did, the true rate would be more like 360% – though that still sounds like a lot to me.)
[Read the rest of Simon’s post here].
What next?
- Everyone concerned with the growth of high interest lenders has been invited to join a rally on Wednesday 19 September
- 1 in 8 workers using payday loans
- People struggling to pay food and bills caught in payday loans debt trap
- Stella Creasy’s Legal Loan Shark campaign
- Read about CDFA’s JUST Finance campaign for more support and growth for the ‘Unsung Heroes’ of the finance sector and get involved easily yourself