One of Britain’s longest established payday lenders has admitted that it was ‘slightly incorrect’ in calculating its interest rates, meaning that it advertised rates that were only a third of the true figure. The annual percentage rate of 433.71 per cent advertised by Peachy Loans on its website since early this year has now been increased to 1,256 per cent after a whistleblower alerted The Mail on Sunday and the Financial Conduct Authority. The APR was misstated despite the charges for the loans being virtually identical to rivals such as Wonga, Mr Lender, Pay Day UK and Pounds To Pocket, who all state their APR at 1,200 per cent or higher. The lower rate also appeared on price comparison websites. Payday lenders are now obliged to place their rates on at least one such comparison site.

In a statement this weekend, Peachy Loans said: ‘After a thorough investigation we have found that our calculations were indeed slightly incorrect and that we have made a mistake. ‘We would like to assure that this has not in any way affected the cost of our loans and none of our customers have been overcharged as a result of this error. We are extremely sorry about this and our intention has never been to mislead customers in any way.’....Read more here