Britain needs a vibrant credit market

Wonga’s small business loans may not be perfect, says Matthew Lynn. But by shaking up the credit market, they are doing the country a favour.

The outcry was predictable. When the controversial instant loan company Wonga announced that it was moving into lending to small business, there was a string of complaints about how it was going to charge struggling new enterprises sky-high rates for the cash they need to keep them afloat.

But the anger was misplaced. There are few industries that need fresh thinking as much as lending to small businesses. The City has lost interest, if it ever had any. The high-street banks are in full-scale retreat. The government has produced endless enquiries and initiatives, all of which have produced precisely nothing. Wonga's small business loans may not be perfect, but if it shakes up the industry and creates a more open, flexible market, it will have done something valuable.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.