OFT urged to target four payday lenders Citizens Advice has written to the Office of Fair Trading calling on the regulator to use new powers to suspend the licences of four payday lenders. The charity did not name the lenders but said two were "household names." Payday lenders provide short-term unsecured loans, mostly to low-income borrowers. From February 19 the OFT will have the power to suspend the consumer credit licences of companies immediately if doing so is necessary to protect consumers - for example, because companies are using business practices deemed "deceitful, oppressive or unfair." "Our evidence shows these lenders are behaving as a law unto themselves," said Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice. Excessive fees and charges are escalating debts and people are worried sick as companies bombard them with texts, emails and phone calls, often overstating their debt collection powers. The OFT confirmed it had received the letter. "We would like to highlight that the new power to suspend can only be used in the most serious cases of immediate harm, but we won't hesitate to use it where cases fit that bill," said a spokeswoman. She added that the watchdog expected to report on its ongoing review into the sector within the next few weeks. The government said last year that it would legislate to impose a cap on the interest rates lenders can charge.