Payday lender Cash Genie will provide £20m in redress to more than 92,000 customers, after the regulator discovered failures in its debt collection and communication practices. Ariste Holding, which trades as Cash Genie, reached an agreement with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after a lengthy probe by the regulator. The FCA found that Cash Genie had failed to treat customers fairly in a number of ways, including charging customers just for referring them to its sister debt collection agency. In June 2014, Cash Genie voluntarily notified the FCA that it had engaged in unfair practices.

In July 2014, the firm agreed to an independent review of its past business and to carry out a redress scheme. As a result of the review, it has agreed to provide £10m in redress. The firm had already voluntarily written off £10.3m of fees and interest. A number of serious failings took place which caused detriment for many customers. The failings date back to the launch of Cash Genie in September 2009 and were summarised by the FCA: Cash Genie charged fees and interest which were unfair. For example, it charged £50 to transfer customers to its sister debt collection firm, Twyford Developments, trading as Carter Forbes, even though it incurred no additional costs. In other cases, the firm charged fees it wasn’t entitled to under its customer contracts;.........Read more here