Debt companies shouldn’t offer Quidco cashback

I agree that it is wrong to offer a £25 incentive to people struggling with their finances, especially since a hunch told me before I read it that “it will be those in the most dire of situations who will be tempted by the offer, and who will pay for debt advice that will only increase their burden.” How do we stop this from happening though?

From reading the article the problem lies in debt management services not the marketing techniques devised to sign people up. To someone in a difficult financial position, a cash incentive may be just as effective as some carefully written advertising copy on an aggregate site in terms of conversion (if the marketer/copywriter is good at what they do). The job of the marketer is to position these products where the target audience looking. Wether cash is offered or not is irrelevant, the customer would still have been actively seeking for debt solutions in order to find quidco and the offer and would most likely have signed up irrespective of the offer. Quidco are just the aggregator here with a cashback conversion method. It’s like blaming google for allowing debt management companies appear in their search rankings.

I thought I was voting, not commenting. The answer is No to any cashback intended to lure someone into paying a much larger fee

Thanks for your comments everyone, but I think a few people are missing my point.

Do people really visit cashback websites looking for a debt management plan (or IVA etc), or are they looking for cashback on other products and services, possibly as a means out of immediate debt woes? The cashback sites I’ve looked at don’t list debt solutions as a separate category, but rather mix the debt listings in with vanilla products like credit cards and savings.

What I’m worried about is that people will start thinking about debt solutions (a good thing), but won’t step back to consider the alternatives to commercial debt management firms (a bad thing). The instant offer of £25 to someone who is struggling with debt may well lead them to take the ‘jam today’ approach, at the expense of their long-term finances.

It’s no secret that I think consumers should never use a commercial debt management company – there are better free alternatives available through CCCS, Payplan etc. At the very least, cashback sites should include a note that fees are payable for debt solutions from these sponsoring companies – if they’re happy to show the upside, they should be transparent with consumers over the true cost and potential damage to your credit file and your wallet.