A Senate economics committee inquiry, which reported on Friday, was told in one case a person on the dole paid the equivalent of an 884 per cent interest rate on a rented clothes dryer.

As well, payday loans were being offered at rates of between 112 and 407 per cent.

"Often these products appear not only to have been targeted at Australians in financial hardship - they seem to have been designed to take advantage of them," the report found.

The report recommended new laws to protect consumers, extra funding for regulators to police the small and medium credit contract sector and a mandatory obligation to act in the best interests of clients.

As well, tax and businesslogr.com other incentives should be considered to boost the number of small credit providers offering low-interest products.

Earnd, a free alternative to payday lenders for cash-strapped nurses, was bought by Greensill Capital just over a year ago.

The firm's founder Lex Greensill, who had a Downing Street business card when he was an adviser to Mr Cameron, https://businesslogr.com/payday-loans-in-maryland-no-credit-check/ said last year that the app was his way of supporting NHS workers fighting Covid-19.

Greensill Capital's founder Lex Greensill (pictured right), who had a Downing Street business card when he was an adviser to Mr Cameron (left), said last year that the app was his way of supporting NHS workers fighting Covid-19

The former prime minister was said to have lobbied the Australian government over wage-payment services on behalf of Greensill. 

But now Earnd's UK arm has gone into administration in the wake of Greensill's collapse last month.

It will mean 30 redundancies at its central London offices. Earnd had agreed deals with ten NHS trusts to let staff get hold of wages before payday without charge.

It comes after Labour calculated Greensill may have made up to £19million in a separate NHS deal to pay pharmacies early.

Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said: ‘It's tragic that Greensill's collapse is now leading to job losses.' 

A spokesman for administrators at Grant Thornton said: ‘The company, a subsidiary of Greensill Capital Management Company (UK) Ltd (in administration), provided an on-demand and upfront payment scheme for employees of registered organisations, including certain NHS Trusts.

Pictured: The Apple App Store page for the Earnd app, a free alternative to payday lenders for cash-strapped nurses. It was bought by Greensill Capital just over a year ago

‘Upon appointment, the Joint Administrators completed a transaction with Wagestream, which acquired some of the company's UK assets. The Joint Administrators are overseeing an orderly wind-down of the remaining business.

‘Regrettably, the circumstances of the administration have meant that the majority (30) of the company's employees have been made redundant as part of this process, with a small number retained to assist in the administration process for a short period.'