Short-term payday loan firms, store card providers and other lenders are mounting a last-ditch attempt to try to prove they do not pose a threat to consumers and are fit to regulate themselves. The Finance & Leasing Association, which includes Britain’s biggest payday lender wonga.com – whose rates can exceed 4,200 per cent APR – will unveil a beefed-up, 75-page code of practice on Wednesday. However, the move is unlikely to fend off tighter regulation. The Office of Fair Trading and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are both reviewing short-term credit provision.

Financial Secretary Mark Hoban said on Friday: ‘The new Financial Conduct Authority will have much stronger powers to better protect customers who access credit, including from payday lenders.’ New provisions in the FLA code will ban sales commission on store cards. They will also prevent payday borrowers from being able to roll over their loans more than three times....Read more here--: Short-term payday loan firms, store card providers and other lenders mounting fightback