H&T halts short-term loan business following FCA review

Pawnbroker H&T has said it had ceased all activities in its high-cost short term (HCSTC) credit unsecured loans business after the Financial Conduct Authority has launched a regulatory review into the business.

In a company statement, the company said “The group has ceased all HCSTC unsecured lending, at least temporarily, as it works through this review process with the FCA. In the year to December 2019 H&T expects that the proportion of revenues in the HCSTC unsecured lending segment is less than 4%.”

H&T said it would be looking at the HCSTC unsecured lending practices over the past 6 years as part of its own review to determine whether any customer redress was payable.

H&T, operates 254 pawnshops across the UK.

The news follows the closure of rival pawnbrokers Albermarle & Bond.