The announcement follows extensive beta testing which saw the London-based company surpass all expectations and process thousands of loans in a matter of months.



Errol Damelin, founder and chief executive officer of Wonga, explains: “Banks and other lenders are weighed down by tradition and complexity. People have come to expect rigid terms, realms of paperwork and slow decisions - particularly in recent times with the increasing pressures of the credit crunch. So a frequent reaction to our service has been amazement at the speed of our process.

“We’ve developed a complex back-end system that enable us to offer a service that’s simplicity itself. Wonga is all about speed and convenience and we can make automated decisions and transfer our small loans directly into bank accounts within minutes. The application process is also completely transparent and there are no hidden fees."

Applicants use sliders on the Wonga home page to decide exactly how much cash they want to borrow and for how many days they need it (between five and 30). The cost is calculated up front and, if an applicant is approved before 3pm on a business day, the cash is deposited straight into their bank account within minutes.

Wonga also operates a trust system, similar to community-orientated sites like eBay, whereby new applicants are initially limited to borrowing up £200 but can increase their credit limit by using the service responsibly over time.

The service has been designed to appeal to anyone who experiences the occasional ‘Wonga moment’ - such as an urgent time-sensitive purchase, an unmissable social event, emergency repairs or a shock bill.

Wonga is a ground-breaking online lender based in London. We launched our first website in October 2007 and rapidly became one of the UK’s most exciting start-up businesses. We are backed by major investors including Balderton Capital and our mission is to provide consumers with instant money whenever they need it - we call it cash on demand.

Further media information: john.moorwood@wonga.com.