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Wonga losing wonga.

£32.7 million, to be precise. But it’s hard to feel much sympathy. When Wonga first launched, they asked me to write some ads for them. I didn’t know anything about them and went along to meet one of the partners. He was bright, urbane and professional but when he calmly outlined their obscene interest rates, I felt very uneasy and declined to do the work. It was clear that Wonga’s success depended on attracting and exploiting the people most in need and least able to meet their quite terrifying repayments. Tighter regulations, hefty fines for malpractice and general disgust at their “business model” mean that Wonga have gone from a £32 million profit one year to a £32 million loss the next. As karma goes, I’d say that was pretty instant.

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