Legal lenders cry foul over ‘shark’ tag
The payday lending sector has come under fire for giving people loans which turn out to be unaffordable, rolling over loans and charging annual interest rates running to several thousand per cent.
But short-term loan trade body the Consumer Finance Association (CFA) said the increasing use of the phrase “legal loan sharks” was causing confusion about the difference between its own industry and violent money lenders.
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Hide AdRussell Hamblin-Boone, chief executive of the CFA, said: “We do understand that the payday industry as a whole has some reputational issues but we think the term legal loan shark is confusing and dangerous as the public don’t know who they can trust.”