The Church of England announced, in mid-July, plans to sponsor credit unions to put pay-day lenders out of business.
It is currently backing a bid for more than 300 RBS branches. An article in the Daily Telegraph said that Archbishop Welby was not attacking companies, but recognised that there is a need for short-term borrowing for people who have to meet a sudden cost but are on a low fixed income.
However, within days of this announcement, the Archbishop of Canterbury said he was ‘embarrassed’ and ‘irritated’ when it was revealed that the Church of England invested indirectly in online lender Wonga. The amount of church money indirectly invested in Wonga was about £75,000 out of investments totalling £5.5bn.
