Wonga Warned Over Predatory ‘Student Loan’ Offer

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Short term money lender, Wonga, came under fire this week as a ‘student loan’ section on its website was found.  Student Money Saver brings students its concerns as high interest loans company target students.

Wonga offers loans which can be taken out over short periods of time but this week a marketing page headed ‘student loans’ was found on the site which claimed that its loans may have advantages over official student loans.

After suggesting students can take out loans to pay for plane tickets to the Canary Islands, the loan company was accused of being “cynical” and “predatory”.  The site compares its high cost deals to student loans but fails to mention that the annual interest rate is almost 3% higher than the latter.

The exploitative page came to light after Martin Lewis of moneysavingexpert.com posted the Wonga site on Twitter and to his 82,000 followers calling the company a “moral disgrace”.  Within hours of the post, hundreds had commented on it.  The page has now been removed after being deemed irresponsible.

A spokesperson for Wonga claimed they were not actively targeting students and only a “tiny fraction” of all customers were actually students as the company performs rigorous credit checks on all loan applicants.  He did however say “We do not believe that working, adult students should be excluded from a popular credit option.  We do not actively target students in any way and our marketing is all mainstream, such as on TV and radio. The two web pages in question are examples of the many search engine optimisation pages on our site, which is essentially content covering all aspects of credit.”

In recent months the company has come under fire for the high interest rates it charges it customers and the adverts it televises during Saturday morning children’s programmes.  Student Money Saver warns students considering a loan to take notice of the high-interest rates which come with them.  For more help and advice on student loans, student finance and saving money during term time, visit Student Money Saver.