Citizens Advice has said a clamp down on payday loan advertising is essential to ensure lenders aren’t preying on youngsters and people who can’t afford loans.  

New figures from Channel 5 News and YouGov show 70% of people would support a ban on all advertising by payday loan companies, including on television, radio, online, in newspapers and on posters.

Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy said:

“It is utterly irresponsible for payday lenders to target children and people out of work with adverts that mask the difficulties payday loans can cause. The industry claims it only lends to people who can afford to repay loans, but Citizens Advice figures highlight that 61 per cent of loans come without proper checks and 3 in 4 people struggle to pay back loans.

“In order to protect consumers, the payday loan industry needs to behave fairly and responsibly, and compete on price instead of speed of loans.  A ban on advertising to children and people without a job would stop payday loans appearing as the norm and could stem the tide of people on limited incomes struggling with mountainous debt caused by payday loans.

“At this time of year, many people will be feeling the pinch and looking at ways to sort out their finances.  It’s important that those who need a short-term loan to tide them over have a range of options to choose from.  Banks could open up the market and offer more choice by introducing a short-term micro-loan.”

Citizens Advice is urging people to report an advert for a payday loan that they think is irresponsible or misleading.