Vocal Voices

..... to put Wonga (and others) out of business. I think that it is a better way than simply legislating them away.

Like it or not, these payday loans are sometimes a lifeline for those who have no other access to loans. Yes, they are often abused by the borrower, but that is also the case with those who can afford loans - maxing out credit cards, for example. However, emergencies do crop up and when they do there are no outlets for those on low incomes other than payday loans or loan sharks.

I say "Well done, Welby."

Good for Welby, doing better already than bugs whiskers. Perhaps the church could set itself up to offer cheap loans from its vast funds, that might bring the congregations back although I suppose they could not preach about usurary unless the loans were at zero interest.

There is an argument that the Church of England no longer has the "vast funds" it used to have (it suffered heavily in the property/pensions scandals years back); it's currently living in austere times with rising costs, far too many buildings needing maintenance, and dwindling congregations. Locally, for example, they have had a fire-sale of assets and have launched a massive campaign for yet more money from the flock - which AFAIK hasn't been met entirely favourably by the faithful. There is a conception that there is still too much junketing being done by bishops .........

Inevitably congregations will merge and there will be church building closures in the future. Again, locally, the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) have been actively looking to share premises with the CofE and the Diocesan powers-that-be have given a tacit nod to it - some Evangelicals might consider that to be little short of heresy!

I just hope the redundant churches aren't all sold off and turned into mosques ....

I know the Cof E had a hare-brained scheme to buy up redundant RBS bank branches not long ago, but I think Welby's current plan is merely to link up with and promote existing credit unions. Which is not a bad thing.

TheOstrich wrote:I think Welby's current plan is merely to link up with and promote existing credit unions. Which is not a bad thing.

That is how I read it. He is not about to set up CofE Bank, but rather to let credit unions use church premises.

I am a member of Leeds City Credit Union and it has only five branches to cover a population of about 750,000. That puts it out of reach of so many people. If it had the use of church halls, for example, it could set up one or two peripatetic teams which could be made available one day a week all over the city.

The initiative could increase the cover of the credit unions and make them more of an alternative to the high street banks. Credit unions tend to be face-to-face operations and the staff know their customers - old style banking.

I think the poor Archbishop has egg on his face this morning

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23459932

He is absolutely right about Wonga and similar firms, they are a disgrace. I wish him well in his campaign.......

Just goes to show how complex and difficult it is to get "ethical investment" right, Kaz .....

Still, full marks to them, they admitted the problem and didn't bluster about it ..

£75,000 out of £5.5bn of investments is hardly a criminal offence and some of the alarmist remarks are laughable.

[Robert Pigott, BBC correspondent] said news that the Church had invested in funds that provided money for Wonga had "raised the stakes even further" and meant Archbishop Welby's plan "has to succeed".

Rubbish! Even if it flops miserably Welby's plan has already done more to highlight the problem than many a costly government inquiry, all of which have lead to dithering and inaction. Having invested in a fund that then invested in Wonga is a slight embarrassment, no more.

It's a very ethical and good move for the church. I wish them well with it.

On the whole row thing, well I wish them luck. When a major US insurance firm went under and was put into resuscitation by the US government, the Auditors went in on Friday. By the time they left on Monday they had no better idea of where they money was and who owed whom than in the first hour of their investigation.

These investment vehicles hire computer programmers to make the whole thing so complicated that nobody can unravel it without reading the computer code and following the trail.

The ethics of finance.