The man charged by the archbishop of Canterbury with leading the Church of England's fight against payday lenders aims to use the nation's churches to promote a network of credit unions and microfinancing operations.
Sir Hector Sants, the former chief executive of the Financial Services Authority and senior banker with Barclays, told the Observer: "If you think about it in banking terms, the Church of England has the best branch network in the country. It's got more branches than any single bank.
"I think there are around 12,000 parishes; contrast that with an ordinary banking network of just over 1,000 branches or so. The church has a tremendous network on the ground, in the community."
Developing the church as an alternative source of credit for people who are considered high risk by conventional lenders is a central concern of the archbishop, Justin Welby, who famously declared his intention to "compete Wonga out of business".
The Church has taken a central role in responding to the rise of the credit companies ,whose sharp practices have alarmed MPs and debt advice experts.
In his first interview as chair of the Task Group on Credit Unions and the Financial Sector, Sants said his job was to deliver a plan that is "action-orientated, not a philosophical debate about credit."
Sants continued:
"The purpose is to look at how the Church can encourage and facilitate the responsible use of credit and savings. There's been a lot of focus on the price of credit and whether credit should be capped, but when you talk to people on the ground who've used payday lenders, the speed of access and the term of the loan are critical. We need to have more of a debate around that."
Members of the task group include the bishops of Stepney and Hull, representatives of credit unions, and executives with senior level experience in banking and regulation.
This summer the Church will launch a credit union for its own employees. Sants indicated this was just the start. "There is a question of whether that or some other mechanism could provide a service to a wider group."
Using the church to promote microfinancing initiatives could help small entrepreneurs and community groups seeking credit to help stimulate their local economies.
"We should be giving wide-ranging thought to whether there are helpful business models which the church can bring into play that offer more than just an advice relationship,"
