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Trade News Archive November 08 October 08 September 08 August 08 July 08 June 08 May 08 April 08 March 08 February 08 January 08
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3rd November 2008
Argos under fire for 222% APR store card
Argos has come in for heavy criticism after it emerged that the retail giant is offering customers store cards with a colossal 222 per cent interest rate.
At a time when consumers are already finding it increasingly difficult to meet repayments on their credit cards and mortgages, critics say the practice is tantamount to daylight robbery.
The firm's Easy Shop Card is run by Provident Personal Credit and specifically targeted at sub-prime customers who have difficulty accessing loans elsewhere.
Billed on the lender's website as "simple and straightforward" with "no complicated forms," it has been labelled "wicked" by Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman.
"A lot of people are finding it increasingly difficult to borrow from the mainstream high street banks," he noted. "There is a real risk of a very large number of people being exploited as a result."
Speaking to Retail Week, a spokesperson for Argos retorted: "We do not provide credit or market the cards … We simply sell them in bulk to many different organisations of which Provident is one."
(c) 2008 Adfero Ltd.
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