New online alternative to payday loans
New online alternative to payday loans
August 16, 2017, Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C – Vancity has today launched an online version of its Vancity Fair & Fast Loan™, providing an alternative to online payday loans.
Vancity first launched the Vancity Fair & Fast Loan three years ago to help cash-strapped British Columbians avoid the cycle of payday loan debt. According to Consumer Protection BC, the provincial regulator of payday loans, more than 160,000 British Columbians took out 804,000 payday loans in 2016. A Vancity report from last year, entitled Short-Term Gain, Long-Term Pain: Examining the Growing Payday Loan Industry in B.C., noted an increasing trend towards use of online payday lenders.
Vancity developed the digital version of the Vancity Fair & Fast Loan in response to requests for quick, private and hassle-free access to emergency funds – engaging members in the process. The online tool can be used to apply for up to $2,500. The whole process – from application to funding – can take as little as 10 minutes for people who meet the criteria, which includes being a member with Vancity for at least three months.
In B.C., the maximum amount that a payday lender can charge for a $300 loan for two weeks is $51. Under the Vancity Fair & Fast Loan, if someone borrowed $300 and paid it off two weeks later, it would cost them $2.18.
Another advantage of the Vancity Fair & Fast Loan is flexible term lengths. Borrowers have up to two years to pay back their loan.
Quote
“Vancity strives to build the financial well-being of its members, especially those who have been underserved by mainstream financial institutions. With the Vancity Fair & Fast Loan Online, we are bringing our values-based approach to the digital space.” Jay-Ann Gilfoy, Vancity's senior vice-president of digital solutions and business technologies
Additional information:
- Backgrounder: Payday Lending in B.C., Consumer Protection BC (2016)
- Short-Term Gain, Long-Term Pain: Examining the Growing Payday Loan Industry in B.C., Vancity (2016)
- Pay Day Lending: In Search of a Local Alternative, see page 15, Centre for Community Based Research and funded by the Wellesley Institute (2010)
About Vancity
Vancity is a values-based financial co-operative serving the needs of its more than 523,000 member-owners and their communities in the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw territories, with 59 branches in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Victoria, Squamish and Alert Bay. With $25.6 billion in assets and assets under administration, Vancity is Canada’s largest community credit union. Vancity uses its assets to help improve the financial well-being of its members while at the same time helping to develop healthy communities that are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.
Tweet us @vancity and connect with us on facebook.com/vancity.
For more information:
Brent Shearer | Vancity
T: 778-837-0394
mediarelations@vancity.com