Laura Platt desperately needed money to repair her car when she saw an advertisement for Cigno, which spruiked "fast cash loans of up to $1,000".ASIC has banned the types of loans Cigno offers but the company appears to have set up a new lending modelConsumer advocates say national credit laws need to be updated to close legal loopholes
"It's loan-shark activity, and it's desperate that it needs to be stopped as soon as possible," Mr Abourizk says.On July 15, ASIC used its special powers of intervention to ban the lending models for short-term and continuous credit used by Cigno and its associated lending entity BHF Solutions. Meanwhile, Cigno is still offering loans on its website with fees that are slightly lower than those referenced in the Federal Court's judgement.Loans of between $50 and $1000 attract a Cigno account keeping fee of $129.90. Customers also face charges of $15 for changing repayments, a $79 dishonour fee and $20 lender default penalty.A spokeswoman for ASIC says the regulator is investigating whether the model was legal.
Cigno describes itself as an "agent to help you obtain a loan from lenders" rather than being a lender itself. "What we need to do is close all the exemptions in the credit laws, so companies like this are not able to operate, when the whole business model is predicated on avoiding credit laws."
Just Lock them up and throw away the key. Our legal systems are useless giving equitable justice to ordinary people - only the rich and fraudulent