We need a People's Bank to protect us from Loan Sharks.

Reports  of a further clutch of Bank closures in Wales Yesterday. came the   news  that a  loan shark nicknamed Del Boy who charged astronomical interest to more than 100 victims has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Robert Sparey, 55, from Caerphilly, who claimed disability benefits, handed out illegal loans of about £250,000.
He admitted illegal money lending over 20 years, along with other offences.
Cardiff Crown Court heard he successfully sued some victims in the civil court, claiming he had loaned "friends" money and was not repaid.
In total, 116 individual borrowers were identified.
Sparey also admitted selling counterfeit tobacco and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The court heard he made his collections in a motability car using a disabled family member as "a front".
Tim Evans, prosecuting for the Wales Illegal Money Lending Unit, said many people who end up borrowing from illegal money lenders are vulnerable and at first consider the person a friend.
He said Sparey portrayed himself as a victim of physical and financial circumstances - but seized records, which only covered the past three years, showed an estimated £264,405 in loans was to be repaid by his victims.
The loans themselves totalled £183,991 - with £61,839 the interest.
One loan was a repayment within two days of £475 on a loan of £350.

We need an inquiry to see if there is any connection  between the closure of local Banks and  a manager who may have more sympathy with those in his or her community  and if this is pushing people who may well have had a loan rejected from a larger Bank that they are distanced from and therfore turning to Loan Sharks.

We should however be paying much more attention to Plaid pledge publicly-owned bank to replace branch closures Back in April
 
Communities across Wales have either already lost their last bank or are soon to lose them, with implications for residents and businesses who will be forced to travel to access their cash, which in rural Wales can mean upwards of a 90 minute round trip.
Simon Thomas, the party’s spokesperson on Rural Affairs, has called for a publicly-owned bank to be created in Wales, similar to those seen in other European countries, and pledged that Plaid Cymru MPs would pressure the UK Government to take action.
He accused the Labour Party of failing to stand up to the Tories and for turning a blind eye to branch closures across Wales.
Simon Thomas AM said:

“It is vitally important that individuals and businesses in all communities have easy access to financial advice and banking services. Unfortunately we’re seeing the same centralisation process with the private banking sector as has been happening in the public sector.
“I am fed up of hearing that customers can choose online banking as this fails to take into account the poor broadband service experienced in many parts of Wales.
“It’s not just Plaid Cymru campaigning against this - the Federation of Small Businesses and the Farmers’ Union of Wales have raised concerns about this culture of centralisation. There will be towns across Wales with no branches at all with some forced to make 90 minute round trips to get access to money.
“Banks are abandoning their customers in pursuit of more and more profit and there should be a duty put on these banks, who provide an essential service, to put the customers’ needs before their own pockets, in the same way as postal services.
“The Tories are intent on putting profits before people and the Labour Party has turned a blind eye to the continuing programme of closures across our country. Plaid Cymru MPs will not just sit on their hands. Our MPs will stand up in Parliament and demand that changes be brought in. We would push for the creation of a people’s bank, owned by the public. It would co-operate, not compete with other financial providers, including the much needed Welsh Development Bank.”

I have no doubt  that with Banks losing the local personal touch people are having problems accessing financial services.

When the UK bailed out Banks we had an opportunity to take one of them into public ownership  and use that to set up exactly the sort of Bank Plaid are talking about.

It was the British Taxpayer that paid for the Banks survival and they repay us with closures  and pushing decent people into the arms of Loan Sharks.

We need a people's bank perhaps linked to Credit Unions before it is to late and many people are exploited  like the vile  Robert Sparey,