Don't drop ball in backing finance services, Jones told

Napier Family Centre chief executive Roydon Day says rugby league legend Stacey Jones, who visits Hastings tomorrow to open Instant Finance's first Hawke's Bay branch, needs to be careful with his financial endorsements.
"He has to be mindful he has certain obligations on what he recommends under the Financial Advisers Act," Day said. The choice of a rugby league player as spokesman for a financial institution made it "pretty obvious who they are targeting", he said.
Labour list MP Stuart Nash said he had signed an online petition asking Jones to pull out of his endorsement.
"Mr Jones is a very good rugby league player but I would question his ability and credibility to speak on financial matters," Nash said.
Day said people considering "these sorts of loans" should instead contact his centre for budgeting advice or more advanced services. "We have some very skilled people who can help get people out of the cart," he said. "They can arrange a principal holiday, summary instalment orders to get your creditors off your back while you drip-feed them, or the non-asset procedure so you can move on with your life.
"There are plenty of mechanisms rather than borrowing more money."
Instant Finance chief executive Richard de Lautour said his institution was a financial solution. "Too many people are getting trapped into a downward debt cycle by unscrupulous lenders and loan sharks," he said.
"Our message is that if you need to borrow money, then make sure you borrow from someone credible and trustworthy.
"People need to know that even if they have been turned down by a bank or other mainstream finance company, Instant Finance can often help them out with a credible, trustworthy lending option.
Credit union NZCU Baywide chief executive Gavin Earle said better financial literacy should be more of a focus rather than publicity surrounding the ease of borrowing money. He cited a new text-message loan service which reportedly charged interest rates of up to 292 per cent per annum which had attracted criticism as targeting the young and the poor.
"We know that it's more responsible to provide advice and educate before people get into financial difficulty and part of this is not to look for easier loans with higher interest rates," Earle said.
Last week the New Zealand Association of Credit Unions sponsored a Financial Literacy Summit in Wellington.
"To have in the same week publicity about an easy-access loan just proves the level of temptation and how easy it is to get a loan. Not only is the loan easy to get but the high interest rates put further pressure on borrowers," he said. "We have a responsibility to our customers and communities to do the right thing morally and financially by them."