C'mon Stacey! Let's tackle debt!

Kiwi rugby league legend Stacey Jones started fronting Instant Finance's advertising campaign in 2010. Stacey Jones is a huge role model for New Zealanders, especially Maori and Pacific. Unfortunately, these same communities are among the most vulnerable to high-interest lending, and too often get trapped in a crippling cycle of debt and borrowing. Finance companies, like Instant Finance, "strategically" target these low-income groups in their advertising - and co-opting our cultural icon Stacey Jones is just one more example of that. We're pretty confident Stacey Jones would stop fronting the advertising campaign if he understood the social and financial hardship that results from high-interest lending. Please support us by signing this petition to ask Stacey Jones to reconsider his support of Instant Finance. Come on Stacey! Let's tackle debt! More info: www.facebook.com/debtfreenewtown NZ media inquiries to Mark Barnard, 027 251 1742 Fast facts about debt in NZ * Federation of Family Budgeting Services clients owe a total of $63 million to finance companies. This was higher than all other forms of debt, except mortgages and bank loans.* * Debt owed to finance companies increased by $20 million from the year to June 2009-June 2010 (from $43 million to $63 million!).* * The average interest rate on a mortgage is 6%, and on a bank loan is 15%. With finance companies, this figure can range anywhere from 29%-500%. * An interest rate of 8% per week (as offered by Superloans) amounts to 416% per year. * Advertised interest rates do not take into account additional fees. In a 2010 case study by Campbell Live, an advertised fee of 29.9% actually amounted to 59.3% once all the additional fees had been included. * In New Zealand there is no legislation to cap interest rates. Countries that have imposed interest caps include France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Canada, Japan, and some states of Australia and the USA. * The Credit Reforms (Responsible Lending) Bill, which sought to cap interest rates and regulate lenders, was voted down in parliament in 2010. However, in June 2011 the current Government announced they will hold a summit to tackle the issue of high-interest lending. * Statistics for the year ending June 2010, provided by the Federation of Family Budgeting Services. (June 2011 stats not yet released).