Subprime lender Provident Financial will ditch its 140-year-old moniker, as it moves away from the home loan business that made “Provy” a household name.
Provident said on Tuesday that it intended to call itself Vanquis Banking Group – the name of the subsidiary that offers credit cards – from March.
It also announced the departure of chief executive Malcolm Le May after five years in the role. Ian McLaughlin, chief executive of Bank of Ireland UK, will take over under regulatory approval.
“After being at Provident Financial for almost nine years, as a non-executive director, chairman, executive chairman and finally executive chairman for five years, I feel the time is right for me to step down,” Le May said. “The group has changed significantly since I joined and is now rebranded as a specialist banking group.”
The company is best known for its 140-year-old door-to-door lending business, a model in which lenders visit borrowers’ homes to collect repayments. But in recent years faced customer complaints driven by professional claims management companies.
Provident is closing its loss-making consumer credit business, which includes doorstep loans, in 2021 after failing to modernize, prompting a pair of profit warnings and an emergency rights issue.
Since then it has focused instead on what it calls “mid-cost loans”, including credit cards, vehicle finance and mortgages.