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A Penticton payday loan lender has been fined for violating consumer protection laws.

Cash Central Services on Martin St. has been penalized $1,500 and received a compliance order from Consumer Protection BC for failing to display annual interest rates on payday loan agreements.

The watchdog also says Cash Central issued a new payday loan to a borrower who already had one outstanding, which is against regulations. The violations were found during a site inspection on July 27.

Consumer Protection BC documents show the payday lender tried to attribute the missing interest rate to a simple oversight around new loan agreement paperwork being created in 2016.

The lender also said the two loans were issued to a longtime customer, who typically borrowed $400 cash on every loan. Cash Central argued that they only had $170 cash on hand at the time, and had the customer come back for the other $230 at a later date.

“The respondent truly believes it provided only one loan, not two,” the penalty decision states.

Regardless, Consumer Protection BC issued the penalty on Oct. 5.