The Dutch financial regulator (AFM) fined Maltese Novum Bank 1.75 million euro because the bank offered pay day loans on the Dutch market between 2013 and 2016 without a license to do so.
The news was reported in Dutch on line newspaper nu.nl.
Novum Bank offered short-term credits on the Dutch market via the website cashper.nl. These loans amounted to €1,000 with a maturity of 30 days.
In almost all cases, customers paid far more for this than legally permitted. For example, a customer concluded a loan of €200 over a period of thirty days and paid a total of €52.15 in costs for this; €2.15 in interest and €50 for a quick transfer.
The Netherlands cap interests rates on loans at 14 percent.
The Dutch regulator was reported as finding the Maltese banks’ violation “serious and culpable” because the bank has concluded 140,000 credit agreements at very high costs consciously risking violation of the law.