Credit union offers military personnel a cheaper alternative to paying off Wonga loans

Plane Saver Credit Union introduced the offer in response to the collapse of the controversial payday lender

Plane Saver Credit Union (PSCU) is offering military personnel with Wonga loans a ‘payday payoff’ loan facility, following the collapse of the payday lender.

The facility has been provided to support serving military personnel who may be affected by the situation at Wonga. PSCU says its offer is significantly better than Wonga’s as interest rates will range between 3.4% – 36.8%. This could save individuals as much £500 in interest payments, it adds.

PCSU was formed in 1993 by a group of British Airways engineers to offer financial services to their colleagues. In 2010 it expanded to include other aviation and transport industries and in 2015 it teamed up with the Ministry of Defence to offer its services to armed forces personnel.

Chief executive Valerie Walwyn, who is also an army veteran, said: “When I heard about Wonga going into administration and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s concerns my attention immediately went to our military personnel who may have previously taken out Wonga loans.

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“We want to help them avoid any potential interest rate increases and are inviting anyone with a Wonga loan to get in touch, so we can look to repay their loan and offer them our favourable interest rate loan offer.”

She added: “We will also assist with consolidating any other payday or high-interest rate loans. Over the years we have been developing products to assist military personnel and recently launched the Flexi Credit Facility to offer a cheaper and more flexible alternative to expensive payday loans, which runs alongside a savings account, in an aim to help combat excessive payday borrowing by our military members.”