Fair By Design is delighted to be working with Fair4All Finance and Toynbee Hall on a pilot No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS), the first of its scale across the UK, with £3.8m in funding from HM Treasury and up to £1m of lending capital from each devolved administration, matched in England by Fair4All Finance.
The loans will provide a vital financial cushion for people unable to access or afford existing forms of credit, but who can afford to repay small sums, by offering a way to spread essential or emergency costs.
The scheme will kick off with proof of concept loans in Autumn 2021, followed by a wider two year pilot in up to six areas of higher deprivation starting in Autumn 2022.
Fair4All Finance, Toynbee Hall and Fair By Design will design and deliver the pilot in collaboration with HM Treasury and the governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We will work with credit unions, Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) and other regulated lenders, who will be able to apply to administer the loans through a formal procurement process starting in November.
Local councils, housing associations and charities will be encouraged to form partnerships with lenders and provide co-funding to help increase the amount of people the pilot can reach. These partnerships are key to the success of the scheme.
The NILS pilot aims to test the benefits to customers, society and the economy and show whether a permanent nationwide NILS can be delivered in a sustainable way.
More information can be found here.
Updates since the campaign launched
20/06/2022 The NILS programme was featured in a number of media outlets in advance of its launch. Here some examples: Liverpool Echo, Birmingham Live, and The Guardian.
