Is the Payday Loan Bubble Set to Burst? Several More Lenders Close

Is the Payday Loan Bubble Set to Burst. Several More Lenders Close

2014 is turning out to be an eventful year for the industry with firms closing down left, right and centre. Not long back we reported on 5 Brands Closing Down and there has been a whole cluster of further casualties to report on here. It has been interesting to see so much chaos in the payday sector, when in comparison the guarantor loan market is enjoying massive growth. We have started to update the existing content here to check on the products and to update the info that we have. It came as quite a surprise when checking on lender websites, that visits would lead on to empty pages one after the other.

This included Cash Cafe, Dosh Express and Instacredit. Micro Lend UK has now also vanished (their credit licence was suspended). Further to this, Lifeboat Loans state that their product is currently unavailable that looks to be their demise and Speedy Dosh now just throws up an email splash page. The Cheque Centre have now also removed the ability to receive online loans. Money in Advance have a server error on application and so we will keep an eye out on their progress. It is worth pointing out that the referenced closures just covers older studied lenders. It is likely that there are more that we will eventually get around to.

It is certainly debatable whether the payday loan bubble is set to burst! In past years we have seen an abundance of new brands springing into life, but now we are mostly seeing companies being put out of business. It has obviously taken some time to build up, but it seems apparent that those that control the lionshare of business have made it just too difficult these days for those who are left to pick up the scraps. The majors such as QuickQuid and Wonga are still advertising a great deal on the TV and emerging sector lenders such as Peachy and Sunny are now also promoting this way.

Choosing not to advertise like this, or at least online, is diminishing the chance of success unless there is a standout product. What is notable from the companies that have closed is that it can be frustrating to see these swift exits being made without them putting up much of a fight. Non that I recall gave it one last push advertising online or running any new deals/features. There are understandably situations whereby there may be little chance of survival. If there are cashflow problems and the customers taking out funds are not paying mounting debts, then there is often little that can be done to stay afloat. More updates to follow.

From running some checks we have already found some more. This includes Cash Access, Cash Bob and Umbrella Loans. The Landa Loan site has had some application errors for a long time and their sister site (Car Repair Finance) has stopped taking applications and so it doesn’t look good there. We will cover a further post with these noted closures and others soon.