Brits Turn to Payday Loans

Posted On: September 19, 2010 at 12:10 p.m.

Filed Under: payday loan company personal loan street lenders

In an economy much like ours in America, Great Britain is seeing a trend that many in the States have noticed: banks are not lending to their customers, forcing them to look to other means. This often means that payday loans, cash advances, and personal loan are the only option. “High street lenders have been accused of becoming less and less likely to help their customers with their short term finance needs, leaving Brits to rely on payday lenders and pawnbrokers to keep debt spirals at bay. [[ads]] A payday loan company, speed-e-loans.com, has made the accusation, with CEO Gary Miller-Cheevers calling the rise of his industry ‘shocking’.

Speaking about the growing popularity of pawnbrokers, he said: “Isn’t it shocking that the great British public have had to resort to clearing out the attic just to make ends meet?”

Statistics from the small payday lender taken between February and March this year found that payday loans were being taken up by Britons considered ‘financially savvy’. 50% of borrowers were found to be white collar workers and professionals, including doctors, accountants and – perhaps most surprisingly – financial advisers” (http://www.debtmanagementtoday.co.uk/newsstory?id=919&type=newsfeature&title=banks_accused_of_failing_customers_as_brits_turn_to_payday_loans). What about this trend? What does it say about where our country (and, obviously, others) is headed? Will this lead to the breakup of big banks, or simply spawn a new kind of industry in the lending business?