QuickQuid, the largest remaining payday lending firm in the UK, has announced it is to close.

The immediate closure has left remaining cases unresolved, prompting thousands of compensation claims from customers who said they were given loans they could not afford to repay.

QuickQuid is the latest of several firms offering short-term loans with high interest rates to close, most notably since Wonga folded in August earlier this year.

The collapse of the payday lender should be welcome news for consumers, according to the co-founder and CEO of the income streaming app, Wagestream.

Peter Briffett commented: “The demise of QuickQuid is brilliant news for consumers, who have had enough of the parasitic payday loans industry.

“Companies that charge exorbitant interest rates have preyed on vulnerable people for long enough and consumers are saying loud and clear, ‘Enough is enough.’

“Every day, Wagestream stops thousands of payday loans, and we won’t stop until we have brought down every last payday lender in the UK.

“Those under financial pressure are better informed and more financially literate than they’ve ever been, and there are more alternatives than ever to payday loans.”

FCA rules brought in five years ago had limited both the interest rates and fees that payday lending firms can charge. Those changes also introduced enhanced affordability checks, and since then there has been a surge of complaints from customers.

QuickQuid had recently been facing thousands of outstanding complaints from borrowers who claimed loans they couldn’t afford to repay had initially been mis-sold to them.

Briffett added: “The amount of free financial education available online has ballooned in the past five years, as financial services companies have started to realise the value of offering greater guidance to customers.

“QuickQuid’s demise is symptomatic of the shift away from exploitative interest rates towards financial tools that do away with debt altogether like income streaming. This is where workers access money they’ve already earned in advance of payday.

“After Wonga and QuickQuid’s collapse, this looks like the beginning of the end for this greedy industry.”

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