The Office of Fair Trading has warned sub-prime lender Swift, trading as Swift Advances and Swift Securities, that it must improve its lending and collections practices or it risks losing its Consumer Credit Licence.

An OFT investigation found Swift was providing secured loans to customers with poor credit  or limited access to credit without checking their ability to afford the loan; verifying their income; taking account of their other financial commitments and personal circumstances or fully checking the information provided in the application.  It has also been ordered to improve its handling of arrears cases including better clarity of charges; handling cases more sympathetically and only using repossession as a last resort. 

Swift Advances is being investigated by the Financial Services Authority for its handling of borrowers in arrears and has set aside £9.4m to cover a potential fine and other costs.