New rules governing how payday lenders and debt management companies treat their customers have been brought in by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today.
The regulator said its final rules would govern the £200bn a year consumer credit market and cover about 50,000 firms from 1 April. Payday lenders now have to include mandatory affordability checks for borrowers. The FCA can also now ban any misleading adverts from the operators. FCA chief executive Martin Wheatley said the watchdog would take a tough approach. "Millions of consumers access some form of credit each day, from paying for everyday goods by credit to taking out a payday loan. We want to be sure that the market works well when people need it - whether that's for one day...
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