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UK: Entire payday lender industry referred to Competition Commission, given 12 weeks to shape-up

By  |  March 6, 2013

The payday lender market could face dark days ahead as a yearlong probe into the sector by the Office of Fair Trading has resulted in a strict 12-week deadline for lenders to change their business practices. The industry will also reportedly be referred to the Competition Commission. According to reports, the OFT found significant problems with how lenders compete with each other, among other issues. OFT chief executive Clive Maxwell said in a statement that the issues the OFT found in its review of the industry cause “misery and hardship for many borrowers.” None of the fifty leading lenders of the industry were singled-out by the OFT, though the authority did threaten to retract lending licenses if lenders do not shape-up in the next 12 weeks. Reports did not detail exactly which competitive issues were cause for concern for the OFT and reason for the authority to refer the industry to the Competition Commission.

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