A source close to the matter said it was highly unlikely the church would be directly involved in the purchase of Wonga’s estimated £400 million book.
Instead, it would work to bring a consortium of non-government organisations and philanthropists to organise a buyout, the source said, but that any plan was in a “very preliminary stage”.
The news comes a week after independent MP Frank Field called on Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby asking him to find “good people” to buy Wonga’s loan book.
Existing borrowers are thought to total around 200,000, and Mr Field said he feared they could be left at the mercy of money lenders and bailiffs who could purchase the debt at a knockdown price.
In a letter to the archbishop, he said: “Is there a possibility please of you asking the Church Commissioners quickly to assemble a consortium of good people with money who will attempt to buy those poor people’s loan books at a knockdown price?”
He said swift action by the church would stop a new lender “terrorising” the poor and would be “an example of the jubilee in setting slaves free of their debts”.
According to the Book of Leviticus, a jubilee year occurs every 50th year, during which slaves and prisoners are freed and debts forgiven.
Administrator Grant Thornton is running Wonga’s loan book while it looks for a buyer.
Mr Field said that such a purchase led by the Church of…
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