Consumers are being warned to be wary of "rip-off" payday middlemen, after the NatWest bank reported that it is receiving hundreds of new complaints every day.
During July and August, NatWest was receiving up to 640 complaints daily.The money is being taken by payday loan middlemen, although customers are often unaware they have authorised a payment.It is thought the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is now looking closely at such activities. In the meantime, the Financial Ombudsman has repeated a warning that consumers should be vigilant. It said it had received 11,500 complaints about "rip-off" loan brokers since April, more than double the number in the whole of last year. "In too many of the cases we sort out, no loan is provided and people's bank accounts have been charged a high fee, often multiple times," said Juliana Francis, the senior Ombudsman.....Read more here