Fair Credit Charity Limited is a registered charity with the objective to help alleviate poverty through better credit solutions for lower income family households and to influence society on fairer lending.
It is the sole owner of Fair for You Enterprise CIC, which lends to customers the money to buy household items from suppliers on its ‘digital high street’.
Key information
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Focus area
Social lending -
Investment type
Enterprise debt -
Region
UK wide
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Challenge
The rising cost of living is impacting thousands of families in the UK, leaving many struggling to afford necessities for daily life, including food, appliances, and household furniture. People are at particular risk when they are hit with emergencies or unexpected costs and are left needing affordable and flexible credit, which many don’t have access to. There are various reasons for this, including having previously scored a low credit rating, which leaves many tuning to more dangerous forms of borrowing such as payday loans or loan sharks.
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Approach
Fair For You Enterprise CIC was established in 2015 to provide an alternative to high-cost lenders and is owned by a charity whose mission is to alleviate poverty. The organisation lends to those with limited access to credit, enabling customers to purchase items for the home and their families through provision of effective and supportive finance solutions that are designed around the customer, following extensive customer research, testing and feedback.
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Revenue model
Fair For You Finance CIC is a thriving and impactful lending business which makes revenue from interest on repayment of loans, which are offered at an ethical rate to customers. For example, an average loan of £350 from Fair for You would cost around £61 compared to £305 from a door-to-door lender or £350 from a payday lender (the legal maximum).
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Impact
Since starting its operations in 2015, Fair for You Enterprise CIC has generated at least £50.5 million of social value for 33,500 customers. 71% of its customers have moved away from high-cost credit since using services, realising just under £9 million of financial savings. An estimated £2 million has been saved from reduced use of NHS services, due to the positive health benefits of having essential home items.
‘People like me who don’t have much to live on, we rely on companies like Fair for You to help us maintain a lifestyle we can be comfortable with – including the basic things like a cooker or washing machine.’ Philip, Fair for You customer.
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Social impact investment has allowed us to do more and do better, we’ve been able to lend to more customers, change more lives and create a lot more impact.
Emma Goodwin
Deputy CEO
