Leading payday loan and short term lender Wonga are planning to enter the field of business loans.  The new Wonga corporate service offers loans of up to £10,000 for struggling business, albeit with less than favourable terms.  Critics of Wonga have slated the sky high interest rates and terms of the loans which include arrangement fees, penalty fees and an interest rate of between 0.5% and 2% per WEEK.  The maximum term of the loan is 52 weeks and business are expected to make weekly repayments on the loan – or face penalty fees of £10 each for a missed or late payment.

In addition, an arrangement fee of between 1-5% depending on the amount borrowed will push the already high rates even higher.  A business who takes out a maximum loan of £10,000 over the course of 1 year will find themselves paying over £10,000 in interest and charges.

Wonga have defended their decision to open a corporate branch citing that it is a much needed service to help struggling businesses improve their cashflow immediately.  The decision has been slammed by financiers and media outlets alike who have accused Wonga of exploiting businesses who are already floundering in the current financial climate.

Related posts:

1. Woman Ran Illegal Loan Sharking Business from Home
2. Wonga now offers cash in just 15 minutes

Its McDonalds Monopoly time again with the usual mixture of cash, prizes, instant wins and free food up for grabs.  This year the top prize has been reduced to 50k in cash, but there are now 10 chances to win.  So whats up for grabs this year?

50k in cash – Mayfair/Park Lane
(2 x instant win – 8 x collect to win)

10  Mini Coopers – Bond Street/Oxford Street/Regent Street
(2 x instant win – 8 x collect to win)

750 Ipads -Picadilly/Coventry Street/Leicester Square
(200 x instant win – 550 x collect to win)

1200 Best Western Weekend Breaks  - Trafalgar Square/Fleet Street/Strand
(500 x instant win – 700 x collect to win)

500 HD Camcorders – Vine Street/Marlborough Street/Bow Street
(500 x collect to win)

1000 Samsung Galaxy Pro – Northumberland Avenue/Whitehall/ Pall Mall
(500 x instant win – 500 x collect to win)

500 Open Gift Vouchers – Pentonville Road/Euston Road/The Angel Islington
(200 x instant win – 300 x collect to win)

50,000 Ipod Docking Stations -Old Kent Road/Whitechapel Road
(50000 x collect to win)

Plus lots of instant win prizes including:
free mcdonalds food, boots vouchers, 20% of hotel vouchers, lovefilm cinema tickets, sims games, 3d tvs, buy a gift vouchers, play.com vouchers

The Rare Stickers:
Mayfair – 8 rare stickers
Bond Street – 8 rare stickers
Coventry Street – 550 rare stickers
Strand – 700 rare stickers
Marlborough Street – 500 rare stickers
Northumberland Avenue – 500 rare stickers
Euston Road – 300 rare stickers
Old Kent Road – 50,000 rare stickers
Liverpool Street Station

The promotion takes place between 21st March 2012 to 1st May 2012 at participating McDonald’s restaurants in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands.

Stickers are available on the following products:

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We have recently encountered multiple complaints regarding unauthorised debit card payments made to customers’ accounts from a loan company called EPM your-money-tv.  The company also bills itself as Power Money Biz.  Firstly, we would like to point out we have never worked with this company; we do not work with companies who charge customers fees for arranging a loan.  We find such arrangements unethical, particularly as some of the customers who were duped into using this service did not fit any of the criteria for being accepted for a loan anyway.

The issue first came to light when numerous customers found that amounts of between £60 and £80 had been taken from their debit cards billed as either EPM your-money.tv or Power-Money.biz.  These domain names are registered to a mailing address in London – London. 1 Liverpool Street, London, EC2M 7QD.  The telephone number listed is 0844 704 9707.  The customers had no recollection of agreeing to pay such amounts and the debits caused severe financial difficulties for many people, particularly people on very low incomes and benefits.

When we checked into this we can across a company called Power Money Biz who on first glance appear to offer no credit check loans for people with bad credit.   A further delve into the site revealed that this is in fact a “membership site” for people who want to get a loan – and there is no guarantee that customers will be accepted for finance.  In short, this is a loan broker using dirty tactics to dupe people into paying £69.95 in the hope they will be accepted for a loan.  The fee which is debited represents the “membership fee” which is taken 14 days after customers have filled in an application form, just enough time for a customer not to be able to connect the loan application with the debit card transaction.   For customers who have not read the small print by proceeding with the application form they have unwittingly agreed to pay the membership fee, which is not clearly obvious on the site.

Power Money Biz claim that they can always help people to get a loan. What they omit to point out is that some of these loans are guarantor loans which virtually everyone can get anyway.  It gives people false hope that they will be accepted for a loan, particularly people at their most financially vulnerable.  Some people are only requiring loans for £100 and they are charged £69 for the privilege.  It would be laughable if it wasn’t so despicable.

For any customer who has fallen prey to these charges, the first port of call should be the bank.  Explain that the transaction was unauthorized and in most cases the bank should be happy to refund the money. Next, take a look at the Direct.gov consumer advice site http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Consumerrights/Howtocomplainaboutgoodsandservices/index.htm which shows how to complain about the company.

Legitimate loan brokers do not charge customers directly; their commissions are paid by the finance company that they introduce the customer to.  When dealing with all things financial, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Related posts:

1. Yes Loans complaints

Provident  Personal Credit. the cash loan lender, have recently branched out to offer a Christmas Hamper Savings Scheme for Christmas 2012.  Start budgeting now with no credit agreement and payments from just £1.15 per week.

The addition of the Christmas Hamper scheme brings the total number of products offered by Provident to four.  The companies leading product remains short term cash loans, or doorstep loans.  Provident also offer the new budgeting loan – which is a smaller loan of up to £300 spread over up to 14 weeks.  The company also offer Love2Shop Vouchers, the cost of which can be spread out in weekly repayments.

The Provident Hamper scheme allows payments to be spread over up to 45 weeks.  Local agents will collect the weekly repayments direct from the clients door in cash, in the same way as loans are repaid.  There is a wide choice of Christmas Hampers to choose from to suit all budgets.

• Payments from as little as £1.15 a week
• The cost spread over 45 weeks
• No credit agreement
• No commitment until September 2012
  
  Find out more about Provident Hampers

Related posts:

1. Borrow the Christmas Cash you need today
2. Provident Buying Up Catalogue Debts
3. Provident Doorstep Loans Apply Online

A Wolverhampton woman ran an illegal money lending business from her home,  lending up to £400,000 over a 7 year period.  Sarah Dixon allegedly lent sums of up to £30,000 to her victims, with interest rates running at over 1,680 % per annum.  Her customers were mainly vulnerable and desperate to borrow the money, despite the charges for missed payments being over £600 in some cases.

Customers who fell behind on loan repayments were allegedly sent threatening text messages and in some cases their bank cards and PIN numbers were taken.  Customers did not fully understand how much interest they would have to pay back, or the interest charges involved.

Prosecutor Ben Mills said

The people she loaned to were vulnerable and very desperate for money. They felt trapped in a spiral of debt.“It was never fully explained to them what their interest rates were and when they would have to pay it back. “She was running a business in the shadows of the economy which circumvented all the rules.”

When police visited Dixons Cannock Road home, they found a large amount of cash together with envelopes containing customers names and cash which had been pushed through the front door.  Documents found at her home revealed that Dixon had lent £400,000 between March 2003 and November 2010.

Dixon admitted eight charges of illegal money lending.  She is due to be sentenced later.

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Provident Personal Credit - a leading provider of Doorstep Loans in the UK, are purchasing unpaid debts from catalogue companies.  A customer of “Simply Be” reported receiving an unsolicited letter from Provident Personal Credit informing her that they had now purchased her debt and would be sending a representative around to her home to discuss repayment options.

Provident are currently offering 0% interest loans and a discount on the debt owed to anyone who takes up their offer.  The deduction offered by Provident to the original debt was £50 and she was offered a weekly repayment term of £19.25 a week over 25 weeks.

The new service offered by Provident is called Fresh Start and is designed to help customers manage debts and rebuild their credit. As the loan is 0% interest and incurs no additional service fees this could be a very useful service for people struggling with debts.

Related posts:

1. Provident Doorstep Loans Apply Online

We are delighted to welcome our new lender on board – Oakham Emergency Loans. They offer fast cash loans of up to £500 in hours.   They accept people in all circumstances including unemployed and on benefits, and you can apply entirely online with no awkward questions.

You will get a decision on your loan in under one hour, and the money could be in your account the same day.  Your repayments are made every week by debit card so no need to worry about late repayments or additional charges.

If you make repayments on time you qualify for a cash bonus, and you loan repayments can be spread over up to 6 months.  Oakham also have a range of other useful financial products available to everyone regardlessof circumstances

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1. Borrow the Christmas Cash you need today

Prepaid debit cards are a convenient and easy way to get a debit card, without the security risk of having a conventional debit card linked to your bank. Anyone can buy a prepaid card, with no credit checks and with the facilities available including debit card purchases, ATM cash withdrawals and online account management, many people are using prepaid debit cards as basic bank accounts.

ID is not needed to buy most cards, although if you want to increase your load and spending limits above about £1500 a year, then you need to submit some basic ID. You can also get additional cards for other people, so they are an ideal way of sharing cash or sending money to relatives abroad.

To buy a prepaid debit card costs less than about £10, and you can then top it up with cash whenever you need it. Because you can never spend more than is one your card, prepaid debit cards are helpful for people who need to stick to a budget or control their spending.

You can compare the best prepaid debit cards in the UK at Get a Debit Card UK.

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Christmas is a stressful time for many of us - even more so when you dont have the cash you need to see you through the festive season.  This is a time when illegal money lenders and loan sharks love to prey on their victims, so be smart and if you do need to borrow some money for the Christmas period, only trust licensed and reputable lenders.

The lowest cost way to get cash for Christmas is to ask your bank for an overdraft, but unfortunately in many cases banks are less than understanding when it comes to lending money, especially if you have less than perfect credit. 

Fortunately there is one lender who will lend to everyone – regardless of circumstances – even if you are unemployed on benefit.  Provident Personal Credit are a doorstep loan company which means you can have the cash you need delivered to your door and then pay off your loan in easy fixed weekly repayments.  Even more convenient – your payments will be collected each week by your local agent direct from your home, so you dont even need to worry about paying money into a bank or sending a cheque. 

Provident can lend you up to £500 and you can get your loan either in cash, or preloaded onto a debit card which you can use both in shops and online.  Alternatively you can even get your loan in the form of Love2Shop vouchers which can be used in many high street stores. 

Provident have a very high acceptance rate for their loans – they rarely turn anyone down, all you need is a UK address and some basic ID.  You can apply completely online and your local agent will contact you to finalise your loan.

Your repayments are fixed so you always know exactly where you stand with your loan, so even if interest rates rocket up you will never have to pay more than the amount on your payment card. 

Apply online now

Related posts:

1. Provident Doorstep Loans Apply Online
2. No debit card payday loans – they do exist!

Its a horror story no homeowner wants to hear – a man who paid £86,000 for his home in 2007 has had it revalued at just £1.  Despite extensive improvement work including £10,000 spent on a new kitchen and conservatory, householder Paul Rooney was stunned when the Nationwide valued his home at just £1.

The amazing valuation results from the fact that surveyors believed the home in Holmside, Durham was unfit for human habitation and put a stock price of £1 on the home.  A spokesman for the Nationwide said ”

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