StepChange Debt Charity response to FCA/Cash Genie announcement

27 July 2015

In response to today’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announcement concerning a £20m redress scheme for more than 92,000 customers of the payday lender Cash Genie, Francis McGee, Director of External Affairs at StepChange Debt Charity, said:

“It has been well established that unfair practices were widespread in the payday loan industry. Today’s news that tens of thousands who were on the receiving end of unscrupulous behaviour will be compensated is extremely welcome.

“We are confident that payday loan reforms put in place by the FCA are starting to take effect and we are finally beginning to see a drop in the number of our clients struggling with this type of debt. However, there is still work to do. We need better alternatives to these types of potentially harmful credit products, and crucially we need better protections for people in debt. The government has promised a review of proposals to give ‘breathing space’ to those in financial difficulty and we look forward to hearing details of that review.”

If you are affected by this, please visit the Financial Conduct Authority website.