QuickQuid set to close, but how can employers help staff in times of financial stress?
28 October 2019
The BBC has reported how the payday loan company, QuickQuid, is set to close amidst regulatory uncertainty and the tightening of laws around providing short-term, high-interest loans.
The company has long been accused of unethical lending due to the high interest placed on loans, which are available to the most vulnerable in society who may not be able to afford the repayments. The situation soon becomes exacerbated as the action taken to resolve a debt problem can actually end up creating more excessive levels of debt which individuals find themselves struggling to escape from. QuickQuid is currently the largest payday loan lender in the UK and has been for several years but there is a multitude of organisations who operate in the same manner.
As Christmas is rapidly approaching, and with many employers paying their staff early in December to account for this, but still retaining the standard pay date in January, many employees struggle financially at the start of a new year. This is because there is a more substantial gap between two pay dates and Christmas is a very expensive time of year when considering money spent on buying presents and for socialising over the festive period.
It could, therefore, be the perfect time for organisations to consider setting up a credit union payroll scheme. The Association of British Credit Unions Ltd (ABCUL) discusses the benefits of these unions and promotes the philanthropic element to them , also explaining how establishing a credit union could benefit the employer, by way of reducing finance-related stress in staff, and in turn, lowering absence at work. The initial set up of the scheme is usually free and the administrative costs of overseeing the union are relatively low but the advantages of credit unions are high.
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