Wronga

I’ve got a bit of a bee in my bonnet regarding anything that prays on the vulnerable or desperate……and ‘payday loans’ very quickly fit into that box.

Over the past week there has been some concern over a TV advert by Wonga. The issue escalated to such an extent that the advertising watchdog ruled that it “confused the public about the interest rates that applied”.

The commercial featured a conversation between two puppets about the costs of a Wonga short-term loan. The Advertising Standards Authority stated that the advert was “misleading by implying a representative APR of 5853% was irrelevant”.

My issue here is not Wonga……They pray on the vulnerable or desperate and we should expect their adverts to do exactly that……which they do.

My issue is that it took an advertising regulator rather than a financial regulator to stop this……and that was only due to complaints. Why is this not being picked up before it even gets to TV airing? All promotional material from a business card to a TV advertisement has to meet strict regulator criteria in the financial world……surely an APR of 5853% that is being promoted as ‘irrelevant’ would cause some concern with somebody? Surely?

I can’t make a company conform to my moral compass but I should expect it to confirm to a regulatory one?

Silly me……I expected better.