Iona Bain’s article in the i newspaper (27 January 2022) explains that illegal moneylenders come in many guises and are embracing social media to ensnare people.
It covers a new short film, Shark, made by Perception Theatre for England’s Illegal Money Lending Team to help young people learn about “friends” who aren’t what they seem.
Bain describes the need for more and better data about the extent of illegal lending and loan sharks.
She highlights community development finance institutions (CDFIs, our members) and credit unions, explaining that they’re the only options available to millions of households aside from higher cost, exploitative and illegal lenders. There’s a gap which CDFIs and credit unions can’t yet fill, and despite calls and efforts to scale up affordable credit, Bain wonders whether enough is happening as quickly as it needs to.
It’s a great article and echoes our messages about the immediate need to scale-up access to affordable credit to help more people with low and unpredictable incomes save millions of pounds in interest, build their credit ratings and put money back in their pocket.
Read the article here and watch the film, Shark, here.
What next?
- Personal-lending Community Development Finance Institutions helped 31,000 people save £11 million in interest recently. Read our “Building a Better Future” report
- Media / journalists: Responsible Finance, our members and clients have featured in TV, radio, national and regional newspapers, magazines, online and in podcasts. We were able to connect a CDFI customer with the Financial Times journalist for this article.
- We can offer interviews, comment and case studies about access to finance / affordable credit / financial inclusion / debt, relating to businesses, social enterprises and people. Please contact [email protected] // 07904 272 200 to request interviews and case studies.