Payday lending: Owner of Peachy and Uploan brands collapses

Another payday lender bites the dust following a crackdown on industry practices that has seen a string of big names fall.

A payday loans sign is seen in the window of Speedy Cash in northwest London
Image: The payday lending sector has come under severe pressure from tighter rules on their practices
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The owner of the Peachy.co.uk and Uploan.co.uk payday lending brands has collapsed, the City watchdog has announced.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said administrators had been appointed to Cash On Go and it was in contact with the company to ensure the fair treatment of customers.

The regulator said: "All existing loan agreements remain in place and will not be affected by the proposed administration.

"However, the firm is no longer able to issue new loans," it added.

The Peachy brand claimed to have two million customers before its website was replaced by a message to announce the administration process.

Cash On Go is the latest in a long series of such lenders to exit the short-term loans market following a tightening of regulations in the payday loans sector.

The largest remaining operator, QuickQuid, fell last autumn little more than a year after Wonga - at the time the UK's biggest payday lender - was plunged into insolvency amid a deluge of customer compensation claims.

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The sector had faced stiff criticism for its treatment of consumers including lending to people clearly unable to repay a short-term loan.

Other complaints concerned massive interest rates and opaque terms and conditions.

Joint administrators at Smith & Williamson said on Thursday evening: "All outstanding loans remain subject to the terms agreed with COG (Cash On Go) and borrowers should continue to make payments in the usual way according to the agreed terms and conditions.

"The Administrators are working with the company to facilitate an orderly wind down of the business and start the process of identifying all creditors, in accordance with their statutory obligations."