CCTA View

European regulators have been asked to investigate several data brokers, credit rating agencies and adtech companies to see if they are breaching the EU’s new data protection laws. Privacy International, the campaign group, filed a series of complaints to the British, Irish and French data regulators on Thursday against data broker Acxiom, software giant Oracle, credit rating agencies Experian and Equifax …

Yesterday, I was fortunate to be able to represent the views of our members and industry on the BBC Radio 4 You & Yours programme which can be heard here. The 8 minute segment referred to the launch of the Debt Hacker campaign and gave its founder, Alan Campbell the opportunity to lay out his stall regarding Debt Hacker, and …

The FCA has published a ‘Dear CEO’ letter issued to all payday lenders regarding the issues surrounding the increase in complaints about unaffordable lending and how the FCA expect firms to firms to manage the impact.  Lenders have been requested to assess their lending activity to determine whether creditworthiness assessments are compliant and inform the FCA if they are unable …

The recent news that payday loan company, Wonga, has sought a £10million bailout is an ominous reminder of the challenges currently facing the consumer credit industry as regulators, consumer groups, and claims management companies focus their attentions on high cost short term credit providers. The latest document to come from the Financial Conduct Authority details the regulators’ Creditworthiness Policy Statement …

The following is the CCTA view on access to credit and the impact of aggressive regulation,  and over zealous and sometimes vexatious redress claims made by the Claims Management Companies. These and other factors are the cause of the ongoing operating problems being experienced by Wonga. Access to responsible credit is required by the majority of consumers, to address short …

Exchanges between the regulator and SME lenders can sound like a stuck record at times, with lenders complaining the FCA is over-regulating and forcing them out of business. However, this time we’re very happy to applaud the FCA for recognising the need to keep the regulations proportionate. The level of fact-finding and future scenario-modelling for a personal loan of £500 cannot …

Greg Stevens, Chief Executive of the CCTA, said: “We welcome the Treasury Select Committee’s recognition that credit plays an ‘essential’ role in many people’s lives, and has been critical in helping households weather the financial crisis and the aftermath.   “Nonetheless, we are concerned with the Committee’s calls for the FCA to consider wider caps on credit, which will be …

Richard Lloyd’s review of the FOS does not go far enough. There are crucial omissions that need to be addressed before trust in FOS can be rebuilt, argues Greg Stevens. This afternoon, the fearsome Treasury Select Committee will meet to discuss criticisms of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The criticisms were first revealed in a Channel 4 Dispatches programme in …

The findings of Richard Lloyd’s report are helpful as far they go, but a more comprehensive review is needed. The credit industry will recognise the shortcomings his report identifies, just as they recognised the criticisms revealed in the Dispatches Programme — primarily the lack of staff expertise and inconsistency in decision-making.   FOS is clearly under organisational pressure from the volume …

In the past 25 years, the UK has seen the closure of nearly 10,000 bank branches – over half of all branches – as more and more customers gravitate towards online banking in a tech-savvy world of contactless cards and virtual cheque payments. Having said that, there are still many customers, particularly the elderly, who prefer a face-to-face service and …

On 13th June the Treasury Select Committee heard from Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the Committee provided broad parliamentary scrutiny of the FCA’s work. As anticipated, the Committee discussed High Cost Short Term Credit, where Mr Bailey re-iterated the findings of the FCA’s recent HCC review. During the Committee, we were very pleased to hear Mr …

In the FCA’s report published today on the outcome of its high-cost credit review, the FCA is quite rightly taking a cautious approach, which is to be welcomed. The focus on overdrafts is welcome too: this is where the bulk of high cost borrowing takes place. Providing credit to low income consumers will always be an emotive topic. You can’t …