After 13 weeks of voting and 34 finalists, the winners of the Consumer Credit Awards 2021, run by Smart Money People, have been revealed. The winners were revealed in a digital announcement on the Consumer Credit Awards Twitter and LinkedIn accounts on 23rd September 2021.

2021 was a record year for voting in the sixth Consumer Credit Awards, with over 31,000 votes received across 15 categories.

Commenting on the announcement, Jacqueline Dewey, Chief Executive of Smart Money People who run the Consumer Credit Awards, said:

“Congratulations to all the winners in our Consumer Credit Awards 2021. The standard of voting this year has been incredibly high, and all the finalists should be proud of their achievements. After another challenging year, it has been great to see the nominated credit firms continue to offer such high levels of satisfaction in the eyes of those who matter most, their customers.”


The winners in the Consumer Credit Awards 2021 are:

Firm of the YearFair For You
Innovation of the Year Tymit
Customer Service Champion Cockle Finance
Treating Customers Fairly ChampionBamboo Loans
HEY Credit Union
Best Car Finance ProviderFirst Response Finance
Best Consumer Credit BrokerFreedom Finance
Best Credit Building Product ProviderPortify
Best Credit Union (North)Capital Credit Union
Best Credit Union (South)Penny Post Credit Union
Best Retail Finance ProviderKlarna
Best Financial Support ProviderStepChange
Best Loan Provider (lending <£2.5k)Cockle Finance
Best Loan Provider (lending >£2.5k)Bamboo Loans
Technology Partner of the Year (sponsored by Bamboo)LendingMetrics
Credit Information Partner of the YearTransUnion

There were also three companies who were awarded a highly commended for their achievements this year in the awards.

Best Credit Union (North)Manchester Credit Union
Best Financial Support ProviderPayPlan
Best Loan Provider (lending >£2.5k)RateSetter

Charity-owned, ethical lender Fair for You has been named Firm of the Year for four years running. Howard Bell, Fair for You’s Chair said:

“Fair for You is utterly dedicated to providing an affordable, supportive service to hard-pressed households when they need to buy essential household items. Whether it’s down to having access to affordability checks that don’t leave a trace on their credit files; flexible repayments or transparent and clear pricing, our customers tell us that Fair for You boosts their financial, physical and mental wellbeing. We are thrilled to be recognised since 2018 as Firm of the Year by our customers.”

Dan Cockle, Director of Cockle Finance who won two awards in 2021 commented on their win saying:

“It's such an honour to win two awards at the Consumer Credit Awards 2021. To be a small, family run business and win the awards, beating some big nationwide companies is such a great achievement for us! I'd like to thank all our amazing customers that took the time to vote for us. We're especially pleased to have won the Customer Service Champion Award; everyone here at Cockle Finance puts an incredible amount of effort into making sure that we put the customers at the heart of everything we do, winning the awards is fantastic recognition for all that hard work that our staff put in!"

Edward Lunn, Chief Operating Officer for Bamboo Loans, commented on their achievements as ‘Treating Customers Fairly Champion’ and ‘Best Loan Provider (lending >£2.5k)' for 2021 saying:

“We are absolutely delighted and honoured to have won two awards this year at the Consumer Credit Awards, 'Best Loan Provider' and 'Treating Customers Fairly Champion'.

As these awards are voted purely by our customers, we are especially thrilled to be receiving the 'Treating Customers Fairly Champion' award. It's something we always strive for and especially during the challenging times we had last year, the collective efforts of our team could not have been rewarded better! Knowing our customers believe in us is the biggest win we could have hoped for.

A huge thank you to our wonderful team; without them this would not have been possible.”


About the Consumer Credit Awards

Launched in 2015, the Consumer Credit Awards help to put customers at the heart of the credit industry and find the best credit providers and partners in the UK. The awards are run by Smart Money People, the UK’s leading financial services review and research website.

The Consumer Credit Awards will be back for 2022, and you can find out more here