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ASA Borro

ASA bans ad from online loan company Borro after it encourages borrowing money for holidays

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By Natalie Mortimer, N/A

August 20, 2014 | 2 min read

Personal asset loan company Borro has had its TV ad banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after complaints that it encouraged consumers to borrow money to buy clothes and holidays.

The ad, created by The Walker Agency, showed a man and a woman discussing what they could use a loan for, including ‘flying to the Caribbean’.

Clearcast responded on Borro’s behalf and said that although holidays might be seen as “a frivolous product on which to spend money”, consumers would not be at risk if they were securing a loan against relatively small assets, such as a watch, compared to other types of loans that secure money against houses or cars.

It added that because of this lower risk and “relatively low APR” Borro believed the ad was not irresponsible in showing how consumers might spend the money.

The ASA said that the reference to using “high interest, short-term credit to fund non-essential purchases such as holidays”, was likely to be seen as encouraging frivolous spending of borrowed money.

The watchdog added that the claims "It's fast, easy, and there's never a credit check" and "Money within 24 hours of valuation" suggested the loan could be obtained quickly and easily, which gave the impression that the decision to take out a loan was not a serious one.

ASA Borro

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