Need a loan at 2334 percent APR?

No, that is not a typo in the headline. British Wonga.com offers small, short term loans online (short term= from 5 to 30 days).  The main advantage they advertise is, that the loan amount is transferred to the bank account of the borrower within minutes of the application, if approved. For that quick service Wonga charges 1% interest per day (!) plus 5.50 GBP transfer fee. According to the website that translates to an typical APR of 2334 percent.

British laws must be very liberal to allow this. In many other European countries interest rates like this would be illegal under consumer protection laws against usury. But Wonga does have a consumer credit licence from the Office of Fair Trading.

And naturally Wonga does not see itself as a loan shark. Read here, why they think their rates are appropriate. I do pity the borrowers that borrow at that interest rate.

EDIT: Interview in the Guardian with Wonga founder Errol Damelin states that Wonga had 50.000 customers during the testing phase.

EDIT Feb. 11th: See the comments for a discussion with John from Wonga.

(Photo credit: Demi-Brooke)