ABCUL Comments on Provident Financial Withdrawing from Doorstep Lending

Tuesday 23 January 2024

Subprime lender, Provident Financial has announced it is withdrawing from doorstep lending after 140 years. Provident has been lending and collecting repayments on the doorstep since the 1880s and, at the last count, this part of the business had about 311,000 customers. Its lending is legal and approved by the City regulator, but it has been controversial.

Commenting on the decision for Provident withdrawing from doorstep lending, ABCUL CEO, Robert Kelly said: “ABCUL notes the decision of Provident Financial to close their doorstop lending activity and to exit the High-Cost Credit Market.  This type of lending has been a real scourge on consumers across the country for far too many years and has had a significant detrimental impact on the lives of so many people, particularly those in vulnerable circumstances.

“It is clear that the High-Cost Credit business model is no longer in any way viable or offering the desired outcomes for consumers and ABCUL member credit unions, and the wider credit union sector will look closely at our potential ability to offer ethical products and services that can bridge some of the gap created.

“Consumers deserve fairer and more responsible financial products and services that are affordable and responsible in nature and which build financial resilience in communities and workplaces across the country – that typifies the credit union business model as THE ethical alternative within the financial services marketplace.”