article_snippet.sent: Wonga could change Wonga name in a desperate attempt to regain credibility after a string of scandals
article_snippet.sent: Wonga's revenues fell by nearly £100million last year to a total of £217.2million, it was announced today - months after The firm wrote off the debts of 300,000 customers.
article_snippet.sent: Wonga's financial woes are expected to continue thanks to a new cap on the interest rates it can charge which was introduced at the start of this year.
article_snippet.sent: Announcing the firm's latest set of results today, chairman Andy Haste said: 'We said Wonga would be smaller and less profitable in the near term as We focus on creating a sustainable business that lends responsibly and transparently to customers who can afford to borrow from We.
article_snippet.sent: Desperate measures: chairman Andy Haste says that Wonga might change Wonga name . '
article_snippet.sent: We know it will take time to repair We reputation and gain an accepted place in the financial services industry, but We're determined to deliver on We plans and serve We customers in the right way.' chairman Andy Haste said that all credit providers have to 'put all credit providers customers first and lend responsibly', admitting: 'Regrettably, that has not always been the case at Wonga.' chairman Andy Haste insisted that Wonga would no longer lend to customers who cannot afford to repay Wonga loans, and said that Wonga had 'grown too quickly' without putting in place the necessary management structure.
article_snippet.sent: The number of Wonga's customers in the UK fell by nearly half, to 575,000, with Wonga making 2.5million loans in the course of 2014 compared to 3.7million the year before.
article_snippet.sent: The total amount of money lent fell from £1.1billion to £732million - but Wonga said that just 6.6 per cent of loans were defaulted on, down from 6.9 per cent in 2013.
article_snippet.sent: Wonga has cut the proportion of loan application Wonga accepts from 80 per cent to just half after toughening up the criteria which potential lenders must meet.
article_snippet.sent: However, Mr Haste admitted that it is likely to take another year to turn Wonga around, saying that 2016 would be when 'Wonga will start to come back'.
article_snippet.sent: Last year, Wonga took a £35million hit from writing off 300,000 personal loans, and also faces a £20million bill over the bogus legal letters scandal.
article_snippet.sent: Wonga now faces new restrictions on the amount of interest
article_snippet.sent: Wonga can charge on loans .
article_snippet.sent: Interest rates have been capped at 0.8 per cent a day - meaning that Wonga has had to cut Wonga annual rate from 5,853 per cent to 1,509 per cent.
article_snippet.sent: Among those who have led the criticism of Wonga is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who announced plans to set up a Church-backed credit network which can compete with payday lenders.