FCA Won’t Fight High-Interest Lender’s Resuming Operations

Nearly a year after the United Kingdom’s finance regulator banned Amigo Holdings PLC from issuing loans in the U.K., the tide is turning.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced Monday (March 7) that it will not block an attempt by the company that operates Amigo Loan to start issuing loans again.

Amigo is expected to appear before Her Majesty’s High Court of Justice in London Tuesday (March 8) to address how it will reimburse customers who were charged as much as 50% interest for loans.

“We have written to the firm to confirm that we do not intend to attend the hearing to oppose its proposals,” the FCA wrote.

The company offered loans of up to 10,000 euros ($13,128) to customers with poor credit scores. The loans were guaranteed by a friend or family member with good credit in case of default.

Last week, in an interview with PYMNTS, LendingClub Financial Health Officer Anuj Nayar said 64% of consumers live paycheck to paycheck.

Read more: 64% of Consumers Lived Paycheck to Paycheck in January, up From 61% a Month Earlier

“I think that is going to increase, and the savings cushion is going to go down,” he said.

The February “Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report: Wealth Divide Edition,” a PYMNTS and LendingClub collaboration, revealed the number of consumers living paycheck-to-paycheck has increased steadily since April 2021.

Get the study: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report

It is now 12 percentage points higher than it was then, with a three-percentage-point jump between December 2021 and January 2022. Consumers of all income brackets are increasingly living paycheck to paycheck, including those earning higher incomes.