PAYDAY lenders are being accused of "irresponsible behaviour" for trapping people with loans they cannot afford and struggle to pay back.

A study by Citizens Advice said that some companies were still failing to carry out basic checks to make sure borrowers were in a position to back their loans.

A representative for short term loan firms disputed the claims, saying that the claims didn't accurately reflect the industry.

A payday loan, also known as a high cost short term credit (HCSTC) product, is a short-term loan designed to give a financial boost to people between pay days.

They are not deemed suitable for people who can't pay bills and have debts and don't have enough money to live on, as they have very high interest rated compared to other financial products and can quickly get out of control.

At one point during their height, nearly one million Scots had taken out a payday loan to help pay their monthly bills.

Some reports have said that companies proving high interest loans cost people in Glasgow alone as much as £20 million every year.

The Church of Scotland has been vocal about challenging payday loans and seeking more affordable options for people to access money quickly.

In January 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced a cap on payday loan interest rates to 0.8 per cent a day, fixed default fees not exceeding £15 and the overall cost never exceeding 100 per cent of the amount borrowed.

However Citizens Advice said that some lenders were still not carrying out necessary checks on borrowers to make sure they were able to pay their loan back.

In a survey of more than 400 people who had attempted to use payday loans, it revealed that one in four had not, or could not remember, being asked questions about their financial situation or ability to repay a loan.

It found that half of these borrowers were still getting into difficulty paying back their loans.

And the number increases when looking at people who did not go through credit checks with 78 per cent getting into difficulty compared to 40 per cent who did have checks.

Those surveyed said it was easy to get a payday loan, using online and phone applications, with few requiring credit checks.

In one instance, Citizens Advice said it had helped one 33-year-old man who was granted a payday loan following checks, despite suffering from depression and alcoholism, having no permanent address, being previously declared bankrupt and having only benefit income.

The report also highlighted new methods being used to collect payments from people's accounts. Citizens Advice found a number cases where a payday lender asked people to share their internet banking details including login and password so a lender could directly access their account and adjust funds without advance permission from the borrower.

And a separate study of Citizens Advice staff and volunteers showed that 27 per cent said inadequate credit checks were the main cause of problems to the people they help.

The research however did find that fewer problems had been reported since the cap was introduced.

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: "Irresponsible behaviour by some payday lenders is trapping people with loans they can't afford.

"New measures and guidelines from the Financial Conduct Authority have helped to clean up the market and the number of people turning to us for help has dropped significantly.

"But it's clear some payday loan firms are flouting the FCA's guidance and selling people loans costing hundreds of pounds that they struggle to pay back.

"The time has come for the FCA to turn its guidance into rules, forcing every single payday lender to carry out rigorous financial checks on potential borrowers to prevent people falling into deepening debt."

A spokeswoman for the FCA said it would be reviewing how lenders had responded to the cap in the first half of next year.

Russell Hamblin-Boone, chief executive of the Consumer Finance Association, which represents short term loan firms, said that the report wasn't representative of the industry which had adapted to the changes the FCA had suggested.

He said: "It is unfortunate this report fails to acknowledge the significant changes in the regulated short-term lending sector and we don't recognise the picture of the industry it paints."