The Iceland “microloans” range from £25 to £100, in the form of a prepayment card to be used in Iceland, and after the initial loan can only be taken out during school holidays. They are a way for those who cannot ordinarily get credit to afford essentials during periods of strain, and pay them back when times are calmer.
For the customers, of whom 18.7% said they had used credit to pay for food and other essentials in the past, there was a three-quarters reduction in the use of loan sharks.
More than nine million adults in the UK were refused credit in the 12 months from April 2022, while 23% of people said in early 2023 the cost of living crisis had driven them to borrow more. Around one million people in the UK borrow…
