Ferratum, which launched in the UK four months ago and operates in 17 countries, has seen rapid growth since opening for business in July.
In 2009/2010, more than 1.2million people took out microloans in the UK – otherwise known as payday loans – but Ferratum says that if its growth figures are representative of the entire UK market, more than 2 million people will now be using payday loans.
Ian Porter, Ferratum UK’s Sales and Marketing Manager, said: “Microloans are probably the fastest growth area in the financial services sector.
“We find that people like the flexibility of a microloan. They are able to borrow anything from £50 and £300 and repay it within a maximum of 45 days. Consumers are increasingly turning away from taking out a long term loan with a traditional lender.
“If the growth in our business is being matched by other companies, it is likely that in excess of 2 million people in the UK will have taken out a payday loan.”
Ferratum customers can apply for a loan online or via their mobile. First time customers are limited to a maximum loan of £100. Customers are told upfront what the full cost will be of their short term loan and there are no hidden charges.
Customers use an online loan calculator to work out the loan amount they need, how long they need to pay it back – between 7 and 45 days – and the full cost of the loan.
Only at this point can you apply for the loan after which the Ferratum customer services team will do a credit check before letting the customer know within minutes if their loan application has been successful.
Customers are issued with their own unique PIN number and because all customer data is securely held future applications are dealt with fast and efficiently.
