“There will simply be four payday that is main running when you look at the sector.â€
It was the claim produced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) back 2014, when I sat in a crowded seminar hall enclosed by other payday loan providers and agents. With all the FCA taking over through the workplace of Fair Trading that 12 months, numerous industry players had been anticipating a shake-up as directors of pay day loan businesses and I also huddled into this room hoping to get some understanding of the regulation that is pending.
Needless to say, we laughed from the concept of a business with only four players. At this stage, payday financing was indeed a booming company with an industry valuation of £2 billion, over 3 million loans funded each year, around 200 loan providers, and much more than 200 agents, effortlessly.