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Provident is now the most ethical non-banking institution

Člověk v tísni, a non-profit organisation, has named Provident Financial the most ethical financial institution. An index comparing the degree of risk of offered financial products assessed eight largest non-bank companies dealing with provision of consumer credit and Provident has won for the first time.

According to Daniel Hůle who prepared the index, as for all monitored criteria Provident had excellent results whereas the only objection by Člověk v tísni related to the high price of our cash loan option.  “Even though Provident is the most expensive of all monitored companies, its contractual terms and conditions are the clearest, it does not claim any penalties on default against its customers, it does not have any arbitration clause and it does not use any securing titles,” said Hůle at the press conference on introducing this year’s index.   It used to be called the Index of Predatory Lending until last year, however, as a number of companies have adjusted their contractual terms and conditions and cancelled arbitration clauses, Člověk v tísni has decided to rename the index. According to Daniel Hůle, the worst practices are done in the so-called grey zone of providers of non-bank loans, i.e. by companies that have not joined the Czech Leasing and Financial Association. “We consider other non-bank companies that are not included in the list being so risky that generally we recommend not to borrow money from such companies,” said Hůle.

The first position in the index is, in particular, the result of our intensive efforts to adjust our contractual terms and conditions in accordance with the recommendations we received from Člověk v tísni on a regular basis. “We had had a clear and comprehensible contract already before that. In addition, we removed the arbitration clause upon the proposal by Člověk v tísni last year, too, and this year we have concentrated on transparency of the contractual terms and conditions, which, along with other factors, enabled us to win,” described the background of our success Monika Němečková who communicates for our company with those who prepare the index.
The index presentation traditionally enjoys great attention from journalists and it was not different this time. “Provident has come off best even though its loans are among the most expensive,” informed the Czech Television (Česká televize) of our winning. Lidové noviny devoted even a dedicated supplement on this issue in which our company was mentioned highly several times using the words that "Provident Financial and Home Credit came off best in the newly published evaluation".

“If you take a loan from a non-bank institution, you should decide for Provident Financial or Home Credit regardless their reputation.“ Aktuálně.cz

Index of Ethical Lending:

Graph: Index of Ethical Lending

by Ondřej Holoubek, spokesman