Businesses which continue to offer credit to customers without interim permissions could be acting illegally rendering finance contracts void.
The Financial Conduct Authority has reported that almost 90% of consumer credit firms have already registered ahead of the 1 April deadline.
The interim permission allows a firm to continue to offer consumer credit services, for example personal loans, car finance and retail credit, until it is invited by the FCA to apply for full authorisation.
Firms will be invited to apply for full authorisation from October 2014 and can continue to operate with their interim permission licence.
Firms that paid for a consumer credit license from the OFT may be eligible for a rebate for part of their licence. This is being administered by the FCA.
Businesses affected include payday lenders, peer to peer, insolvency practitioners and other professional firms.
