The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is questioning payday loan company QuickQuid, amid concerns that they are not employing enough people in its British offices in order to legally be classed as an authorised lender.
QuickQuid, an American-owned company with more than a million customers, began lending out short-term loans in 2007 in the UK. The firm is now required by the FCA to have its business practices assessed by an external company, as part of the ‘skilled persons review’ commissioned by the FCA. These reviews are normally carried out in secret.
In order to be authorised, lenders need to prove they are registered as a UK company, have a structure ‘capable of being effectively supervised’, and its ‘mind and management’ must be in the country.
QuickQuid said that it “maintains an ongoing dialogue with the FCA. We are confident that we satisfy the threshold conditions and look forward to continuing to serve consumers with access to short-term loans.”
Up until last year, QuickQuid was owned by Cash America (an American pawnbroker), before becoming associated with Enova International, two firms which are on the New York Stock Exchange. Enova’s quarterly international revenue fell more than 50 per cent to £30m, they announced at the beginning of May, with the stricter regulations introduced in the UK being blamed for the decline.
At the beginning of 2015, the government introduced tougher rules on payday loans, to help protect people from spiralling debt, and it has affected the industry rather considerably.
