Church of England’s ethical lending could be a healthy alternative to regulation
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby’s statement that he wants credit unions to compete with payday lenders like Wonga so as to put them ‘out of existence’ is still attracting coverage. This article debates whether you should compete with and/or regulate the high cost lending industry. Providing an overview of lending at interest since the New Testament, the journalist argues that If the Church could either spread its new usury ethics to other finance firms or was more competitive than those businesses that did not adopt its new norms, that could be a healthy and efficient alternative to blunt new regulation. A new report on social action and the Church of England has just been published which argues that the Church can help meet and fill the gap of renewing public services in holistic, personal and local ways. With a ‘presence in every community’ what might the Church of England’s lending look like?