Watchdog says no to Yes Loans licence

Yes Loans arranged expensive payday loans for some consumers rather than the products they were initially asking about and misled others into believing it was a loan provider rather than a credit broker, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) found.

The firm insisted its licence allowed it to continue trading through any appeals process.

Consumer groups welcomed the OFT’s decision, with Sarah Brooks, director of financial services at Consumer Focus, saying it appeared “long overdue”.

She said: “We must not tolerate companies who use misleading sales practices to leech more money from cash-strapped consumers.”

The OFT has been investigating Yes Loans over several years and the firm previously changed some of its practices as a result.

But the watchdog said it had “evidence of prolonged engagement in deceitful and oppressive business practices”.