Well there are only a few hours left of 2008 and we’re heading into 2009 on a high. The lovely folks at Red Herring have just informed us that Wonga has made it into their prestigious Global 200 roll of honour. We already appeared in their top 100 tech companies across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, so now we’ve been shortlisted for the top 100 in the whole wide world!

The accolade is deserved recognition for everyone in the team and caps a fantastic year for Wonga. We’ve been working hard to keep improving the UK’s only 24/7, super-fast cash advance service and have helped thousands of happy customers during our first full year of operation.

Have a great night if you’re celebrating later and a happy new year to all our customers! We look forward to being of service in 2009.

Our founder and CEO was recently caught on camera at Le Web in Paris - a huge European technology and internet event. Check out the video, in which he talks about Wonga and also our partnership with Kiva. Not one to slump in front of the telly, he’s due to climb Mount Kilimanjaro next week. So good luck from everyone at Wonga and don’t look down!

An article in the Times this week about personal loans highlights how banks and other lenders seem to be fighting to offer the worst loan deals at the moment - in a potential bid to curb demand. Despite gargantuan cuts in the base rate recently, a cheap loan is becoming harder to find than a new Christmas number one for Cliff. Here’s an extract:

The cheapest loan available is now 8.2 per cent – that is more than four times the base rate at 2 per cent. Experts say that providers may actually be trying to price themselves out of the market as the availability of credit continues to be squeezed.

Several providers have increased personal loan rates in the past four weeks – including Barclaycard by 2 per cent, Sainsbury’s Finance by 1 per cent, and Britannia building society and Lombard Direct by 0.5 per cent.

At the same time cheap bank loans are vanishing, the number of lenders who are willing to help out is also shrinking:

Lending on personal loans dropped by 26 per cent in October in comparison to the same month last year, according to uSwitch.com. Whilst six months ago borrowers could get rates of 7 per cent or less, all of these deals have now disappeared. Moneyback Bank, which consistently offered loans as low as 5.5 per cent over the past two years, has closed for new business completely.

Last year almost 1.3 million people took out an unsecured personal loan to consolidate debts – but with interest rates rising and credit being harder to obtain, less borrowers will have that option.

If you’re having trouble finding a cheap loan, or any loan at all, now might be the perfect time to try a short-term Wonga cash advance. You will need to pass our online credit check but, unlike the banks, we lend cash to tide you over for up to 30 days, so we’re not looking to predict your reliability over several years. You also won’t be left making repayments for years either of course!

While plenty of people will be looking forward to Christmas, this year will no doubt be a stretching one for many. And with financial strain usually comes stress.

It’s an expensive time of year and the pressure to ‘buy’ yourself a happy Christmas can be intense. Whether it’s your desire to buy the right presents, to cook up a festive feast for the in-laws or just afford the basics like Christmas cards, it can be a worrying (as well as wonderful) time.

So with the Credit Crunch all over the media like an unsightly rash, it’s no surprise there’s a mountain of money saving tips out there right now. Try searching for ‘money saving Christmas’ and you’ll get over 1.3 million results. Thankfully you can always count on Wonga to keep things simple!

We’ve trawled cyberspace for you and sorted the wise from the wacky. Here are our favourite five tips to have yourself a merry little Christmas on a budget.

1. Set yourself a realistic limit on everything from presents to food and stick to it. Most overspending occurs when you’re not thinking, stressed and get lured into an impulse purchase. So make sure you write down your limits and make it a challenge to beat them.
2. It’s easy to borrow in haste and repent at leisure, so make sure you consider any credit very carefully before committing. Loans and credit cards can seem appealing at times of financial stress, but they don’t mean an end to your cash worries, they merely delay them until the new year. A Wonga loan is a short term loan designed for short term cash flow problems. That means you won’t be left making repayments come next summer, but you should still consider whether you could really do without the cash before applying.
3. Don’t succumb to unspoken pressure to have the perfect Christmas. For example, if you’ve been giving and receiving presents of a certain value with your family for years, don’t assume it has to be so this year. Discuss more sensible budgets or even the idea of a ‘Secret Santa’ gift approach, where you all spend £5 on one person and have a bit of fun. You might find everyone’s relieved at the idea of spending less this year. And it wasn’t so long ago that the season of goodwill didn’t entail spending a small fortune on pressies!
4. Entertainment needn’t cost and arm and a leg either. Classic TV and walking the excess grub off are both part of Christmas tradition, so don’t feel you have to be in a pub, restaurant or cinema to enjoy yourself. Get back to basics and enjoy just being with friends or family. Knowing you’re saving cash should help you relax too.
5. Finally, let’s cheat! Here are a few thrifty suggestions rolled into one… Send eCards for one year, tart up cheap brown wrapping paper with a roll of ribbon, buy new decorations after Christmas for 75% savings, spend any reward points you’ve earned this year and check out low-cost gift guides like this one from the Guardian. Oh, and shop around for the best price on EVERYTHING - retailers are struggling too.

Our CEO has received major recognition from the European Business Awards this week. He’s a recipient of a Ruban D’Honneaur (loosely translated as a ribbon of honour) and has been shortlisted for the RSM International Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

He’ll have to present to a multi-national panel of judges in January and will hear their decision at an impressive sounding ceremony in Rome next spring. As their site explains:

Entrepreneurship, particularly for the European economy, is a key source of jobs, business dynamism and innovation. The people in this category show incredible verve, flair, tenacity and aplomb in business. They come from a variety of industries, backgrounds and countries. Whether they are running a technology company, a recruitment firm or a marketing enterprise – one thing makes them stand out from the crowd – the will to succeed.