Gamblers in Finland are relying more on payday loans according to a recent legal study.
The legal entity, Takaisinperintä, stated that one in five Fins used the financial lending process to fuel their betting habits. According to the study, the reliance on payday loan debt for residents of the Scandinavian country mounts when debt is piling up.
Quick debt solutions on the rise in Finland
One person who relied on the instant lending options said “I would never take quick loans again, they cheat people with interest. The truth is completely different – most of the money paid monthly goes into the pockets of the quick loan companies.”
Tighter regulations and fairer conditions were a key theme of the survey with 88% of participants considering current interest rates and costs unreasonable and 87% would like stricter regulation on these “fast-track” loan companies.
Of the Finish survey participants 32% stated that gambling problems were the root cause behind the situations driving their need to depend on these lending avenues.
The Helsinki Times reported that Olli-Matti Korhonen, CEO of Takaisinperintä said “The biggest issues we see are unreasonable interest rates, unclear terms, and failure to properly assess creditworthiness.”
Payday loans in Finland have a minimum legal amount of €2,000 and this seemed to be the average amount borrowed by the survey participants, with €3,000 the largest loan amount.
One survey participant said “I have taken every possible step because I was caught in a cycle of no return. The debts are not getting reduced due to the high interest rates, even though I make repayments every month.”
Korhonen attempted to shrug off the more negative connotations of the loan options. The CEO said “Most borrowers are just trying to deal with everyday crises. If your washing machine breaks and you don’t have savings, a payday loan may seem like the only option – even if it’s never a good one.”
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