Wonga Pushes The Reset Button

After a rather public shaming for illegal and sleazy debt-collection practices, Wonga has a new CEO and is moving to rehabilitate its image.

First on the chopping block—the puppets. The distinctive puppets that Wonga has heretofore used to advertise its payday loan services are being pulled, as they could be seen as an attempt to recruit young and vulnerable lendees into accepting loans they simply cannot afford.

Wonga’s new chairman Andy Haste has said the company must now “regain Wonga’s right to be accepted as part of the financial services sector,” reports the Financial Times.

Mr. Haste did go on to affirm that Wonga needs to change, but so does the large and ever growing industry in which it is the largest player in the U.K.

“Part of the issue with the very rapid growth is that systems, processes and controls didn’t keep pace and frankly mistakes have been made,” he admitted, reports the source.

Haste comes from insurer RSA where he was chief executive, and was announced as Wonga’s new chairman yesterday.

Chairman of ITV, another of Haste’s former employers, said on Monday that Mr. Haste was “just the man for the [Wonga] job as he will bring rock solid values, great experience of regulated industries and unstoppable determination. He will be a blast of cold air and transparency.”

Mr. Haste takes on the Wonga job as the U.K. considers sweeping regulatory reform for the payday loan sector.

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