Britain's new financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has taken action against online payday lender Wonga. Wonga positioned itself as a tech startup with ‘affordability algorithms’ that allowed it to make lending decisions in minutes. In fact, that speed relied on lax underwriting standards and insufficient credit checks which allowed borrowers to take out plainly unaffordable loans. The company has now agreed to entirely write off the debts of 330,000 customers, a total of £220 million ($356 million). Wonga previously paid £2.6 million ($4.2 million) in compensation after sending past-due customers fake letters from non-existent law firms. Amid its regulatory woes, the company announced a 53% fall in annual profits earlier this week.