From information services to adviser blogs, from checking bank statements to making complicated transactions, technology has enabled the working man or woman to interact with their banks and lenders 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
But it has also proved the bane of many, not least because text, email and online advertising has been targeting people to take out high-interest loans or to succumb to the pressure of claims management companies.
Last week, the Office of Fair Trading issued guidance on suspending consumer credit licenses to rogue lenders and back-street loan sharks, although it will not use these powers to suspend consumer credit licences “unless absolutely necessary”.
The OFT is right to be concerned with the way vulnerable consumers are bombarded by often-illegal spam emails and SMS from cybersharks.
When you consider the financial difficulty that people are in, it is understandable that the ease of being able to fill in a simple form and click ‘submit’ while on the bus home has seemed a simple answer to many people’s debt problems.
Of course, it is not. It is the hammer by which the final nail is struck. Do consumers know enough about alternative lenders to make an informed choice? The information, one might argue, is available through the same device that the consumer used to apply for a high-interest loan.
But information is not the same as advice and never will be. And if the consumer cannot afford to pay for good advice, then there must be some protection, someone to whom these sharks are accountable.
The OFT needs to stop issuing paper, bare its teeth and be prepared to bite.
.png?source=design-system&width=126)