The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has granted full authorisation to payday loans lender Wonga, after a troubled two years for the company.
Wonga is the first major payday loans lender to receive the crucial licence from the FCA, and comes just a few weeks before its interim permission to operate was set to expire.
Authorisation from the City watchdog has been required since the FCA took up the responsibility of regulating thousands of credit providers back in 2014.
Wonga’s chairman, Andy Haste, said: “FCA authorisation is an important milestone for Wonga as we continue to build a responsible business with a long-term future, putting customers and good governance at the heart of everything we do.”
“We support the work of the FCA and we will continue to work with them openly and constructively as a responsible participant in the financial services sector,” he continued.
Wonga is currently looking to make its business more diverse, offering different loans to their usual short term ones. Late last year the lender started trialling 90-day loans, the first time a longer loan has been offered by the company since announcing a loss of £37m in April 2015.
