Does Wonga really deserve another chance?
Owners must have been aghast at the storm of protest over news that Wonga had been sending vulnerable borrowers threatening letters from bogus lawyers
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Wonga’s owners are a mixture of private-equity investors who are banking on being able to turn their considerable investment in the firm into a decent profit. As such, they plan to take the high-cost-credit company to the stock market when the time is right, and by that I mean when they can turn the most profit.
They’ve told me in the past that they have no particular time frame in mind. While the business has been growing exponentially as more hard-up people turn to short-term credit to get by, they’ve been able to sit back and anticipate a more-than-decent return in due course.
Yet alarm bells must have been ringing as the City watchdog introduced tough new rules that cut the amount of profit the company can make, particularly through rolling loans. And the owners must have been aghast at the storm of protest that erupted last month over the news that Wonga had been sending vulnerable borrowers threatening letters from bogus lawyers.
They hope that parachuting in a respected City name will persuade us that the company deserves another chance. Try telling that to people forced into a spiral of debt after being persuaded to take out a payday loan.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments