"Good Shepherd provided 27,392 no-interest loans in the past financial year. Eligible low-income earners received up to $1,500 for essential goods and services but cannot access them for cash, rental bonds, rent arrears, debt consolidation, holidays or bills."
Apparently funding will allow tripling of number of loans to 75k per year. However, one has to ask how useful this service is if it excludes basically all the reasons a consumer gets a payday loan? Additionally, for those who's loan purpose does qualify (car, washing machine, medical bills?), what is the eligibility, and how tight or loose is this? Finally, 15m per year seems like a very small amount relative to the SACC loan books of MNY (now sold), Nimble, Wallet Wizard and others.
Bill Shorten's characterisation of this measure as 'modest', appears to be an understatement. How can a measure be truly effective if it excludes the primary reasons consumers use this product?
One final note, check out CCP's coments regarding it's Wallet Wizard loans offering cheaper terms than the not for profit alternative, Speckle (funded by Nab). Not to mention Speckle has strict eligibility requirements that people in true hardship simply wouldn't meet.
MNY Price at posting:
$1.92 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
