Loan phone moan Fury as payday lender uses Xmas draw to prey on poor
A PAYDAY lender is enticing borrowers to rack up Christmas debts with the promise of entry into a draw to win an iphone.
The firm Mr Lender sent texts to previous customers offering highinterest loans to spend on food and presents – and a chance to win the coveted device.
Last night the move was attacked by Labour MP Frank Field, a critic of payday lending, who said: “This is appalling. I would hope that the representatives are turn turning up at people’s doors d dressed as wolves, as that’s th their behaviour.” Mr Lend Lender offers loans of up to £1,50 £1,500 a time to people wh who can no longer
borrow with payday loan giant Wonga, which collapsed in August. Since then other high-cost lenders have muscled into the market, say anti-poverty campaigners.
Debt charity Stepchange says 1.4 million people signed up for high-interest credit last year, with the average debt being £1,519. Mr Lender’s parent company PDL f i nance made £2.6million pre-tax profits last year, up from £2million a year earlier.
Its boss Adam Freeman boasts on his Linkedin profile page: “Mr Lender currently gets thousands of applica- tions each day.” Marketing manager Stuart Proudfoot said: “We disagree that the promotion will entice people to take out a loan that they do not require and there is no evidence to support that this would be the case.”