NZ Herald 13 August 2014
Almost 1 million families will be eligible for low- and no-interest loans under a new Government-backed scheme aimed at saving low-income families from \”loan sharks\”.
The Community Finance scheme, launched by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett in Manukau today, starts with $10 million in initial finance from the Bank of New Zealand and a small Government subsidy for administrative costs.
The \”front door\” to the scheme will be the Salvation Army, initially on a pilot basis in its Manukau and Henderson offices where many clients have been paying interest to \”loan sharks\” of up to 10 per cent a week – 520 per cent a year.
The new scheme offers two kinds of fee-free loans:
• A no-interest loan scheme (\’NILS\’) of up to $1000 for up to 18 months from early September.
• \’StepUp\’ loans of between $1000 and $5000 for up to three years at 6.99 per cent interest from today.
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