Dollar Financial Group

Dollar Financial (Lone Star Funds LLC)
Private
Industry Financial services and Retail
Founded 1979[1]
Headquarters Malvern, Pennsylvania,
U.S.
Area served
 international
Key people
 John Grayken
Products Payday loans, pawnbroking and jewelry sales
Owner Lone Star Funds
Website dfg.com

Dollar Financial Group, Inc. (DFG) is a US-based financial services group with over 1000 locations in seven countries.[1] It focusses on low-income or bad-credit consumers, providing short term loans (payday loans), pawnbroking and gold buying services.[1] DFG's brands include Money Mart (Canada), The Money Shop (UK and Ireland), Loan Mart, Insta-Cheques, and We The People.[2] The group acquired high-end pawnbrokers Suttons & Robertsons in 2010.

In 2009 DFG was the largest provider of payday loans in the United Kingdom, with around a quarter of the market.[3] In February 2011 DFG additionally acquired the largest British internet payday lender, Month End Money (MEM) (including the brand PaydayUK) for $195m,[4] and suggested The Money Shop's network could grow from around 350 shops to around 1200.[5]

The company was previously known as "Monetary Management Corporation", changing its name in 1990.[2]

The company was purchased by private equity fund manager Lone Star Funds in 2014.[6]

Regulatory action

In 2013, the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consent order against a subsidiary for making false statements about auto loans to soldiers and veterans. The company was required to refund $3.3 million to servicemembers.[7] In June 2015, a year after its acquisition by Lone Star Funds, the company announced that it would wind down the program and cease taking on new customers.[8]

In October 2015, the UK Financial Conduct Authority ordered an affiliate to refund £15.4 million to 147,000 customers[9] after finding that the company was lending more to borrowers than they could afford to repay.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 DFG, DFG
  2. 1 2 BusinessWeek, Dollar Financial Group Inc.
  3. ↑ Marie Burton, Consumer Focus, Keeping the plates spinning: Perceptions of payday loans in Great Britain
  4. ↑ BusinessWire, 1 April 2011, Dollar Financial Corp Consummates Previously Announced Acquisition of Purpose U.K. Holdings Limited, (MEM), the Leading Provider of Internet Loans in the United Kingdom
  5. ↑ The Guardian, 11 February 2011, US payday loan firms plan rapid expansion in cash-strapped Britain
  6. ↑ "Lone Star Funds to Buy DFC Global," Wall Street Journal, 4/2/2014
  7. ↑ CFPB press release issued 6/27/2013
  8. ↑ Company website accessed 11/3/2015
  9. ↑ "Dollar Financial ordered to repay £15.4 million to customer," The Guardian, 10/26/2015
  10. ↑ FCA press release issued 10/26/2015

External links

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