CCTA View

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 …

When the Treasury announced that £5.67 million of funding will be provided to Britain’s Illegal Money Lending Teams (IMLT) and bodies in Northern Ireland to tackle illegal lending, this was of course met with a welcome response, representing a 16% increase compared to the previous year. This sum will be used to crack down on so-called ‘nasty lenders’ while also …

It is excellent news that Provident Financial has turned the corner and normal service has been restored to satisfy their customers’ needs. This comes at the same time as RBS announces that it is shutting another 162 Branches across the UK on the wider assumption that consumers will go online. There will be many more small towns and villages where …

The reported recovery in real wage growth has failed to promote optimism among households. The consumer confidence barometer by GfK, (Times 27th April) – the bellwether indicator which is tracked by the Bank of England and others – fell from minus 7 in March to minus 9 this month. It has now been negative for 28 months in a row. …

On Tuesday 24th April, MPs debated the Report Stage and Third Reading of the Financial Claims and Guidance Bill in the House of Commons. We applaud and support the aims of the Bill to ensure access for all to free and impartial money guidance, debt advice and high-quality claims handling services. The opposition broadly supported the Government’s Bill but called for a …