Money-lending boom - Exploiting the weakest

In recent times we’ve all heard the phrase “never waste a good crisis”.

Unfortunately one group needs no encouragement to make the most of others’ difficulties. Money-lending is going through a boom, taking advantage of the straitened circumstances faced by so many people. Provident Personal Credit, which lend sums up to €500, had 75,000 customers here just three years ago. Today that figure is 100,000.

Many Government agencies have warned about the difficulties involved in using these services, and warned even more strongly about using illegal money-lenders. It seems a failure of regulation that some of the most vulnerable in society can be charged interest rates of up to 187% for short-term finance. It is impossible to see this as anything other than base exploitation.