Wonga complained to the Press Complaints Commission via Lewis Silkin solicitors that the newspaper had, in breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors' Code of Practice, incorrectly claimed that Wonga charged customers "4,214% interest on short term loans". In fact, this figure represented Wonga's representative APR, which was a measure designed for annual products quite different to those provided by Wonga. Wonga provided short term loans of up to a month with a simple, non-compounding interest of 1% a day. If loans remained unpaid after a maximum of 60 days, balances were frozen and no further interest was added to the principal sum owed. Wonga was further concerned that the article referred to the company as a "loan shark" without making clear that it operated within both the law and the regulation governing the industry.

The complaint was resolved when the PCC negotiated the publication of the following correction:

Following Brian Reade's column of 13 October 2012 concerning Wonga's sponsorship of Newcastle United, we have been asked to make clear that the 4214% interest charge for Wonga as stated is an annual percentage rate and that Wonga do not literally charge this rate to their customers. They freeze interest of any balances after a maximum of 60 days so no further interest is added to the sum owed.