Low-income earning customers across the UK can now gain access to a website that offers as much as 50 per cent off household goods in an effort to provide some respite from the high interest cash loans provided by payday lenders and other sources of expensive credit.
The new Smarterbuys website, operated by the Northern Housing Consortium, was specifically designed to be a counterbalance to high street retailers offering items on a hire purchase basis. Debt charities have accused such hire purchase firms as being as bad as instant cash loan providers due to the exorbitantly high interest rates charged to customers, as the end result can be charging as much as double for the same item available at a traditional retail outlet.
The website welcomes all users from all over the UK and will be offering regular deals. Smarterbuys will also permit customers who lack access to prepaid cards or debit cards to reserve an item online and then go to their nearest PayPoint counter in order to pay in cash, as the entire point of the new programme is to discourage building up debt by taking out too many short term loans.
The consortium’s business development and marketing manager, Tracy Harrison, remarked that the website provides a double benefit to consumers, as they can not just choose from a range of payment options but can also receive an upfront discount as well. However, the true goal of the new programme was to make sure people realise that they do not need to resort to high-cost credit in order to obtain the everyday items they need so badly.