TAPF Articles

Payday loans, and advances on pay have been around since people paid other people to work for them. The need for small short terms loans has always attracted lenders willing to accomodate. When banks can’t or won’t accomadate a market need, others will step in. Loan sharks ran very profitable, although illegal, businesses. Pawn shops were there to provide temporary loans in exchange for property. Today there are paycheck stores in every poor area of our cities.

Paycheck loans are unsecured, short term, and typically are not greater than $1500 and usually much less. The payday loan is designed to tide a person over when their money runs out before their paycheck arrives. Consequently these loans are for 7 to 14 days.

When people with good credit find themselves in a cash crunch before payday, they will use their credit card to cover the shortfall. However, people with no credit or bad credit have little choice in how to come up with cash on short notice. Payday loans provide the financial backup that credit cards do for people with good credit. So if the loans are providing a value to people who would otherwise have no access to credit, why do so many people think they are a rip off?

Consumer advocate groups contend that the payday loan industry is charging interest rates that are far in excess to what they need and that they are targeting poor people. Interest rates as high as 700% APR are not uncommon. Each state sets the rules for the industry and consequently the interest rates and other terms vary state to state. So a person with no credit or bad credit is charges 700% where a person with good credit would be charged 14% on their credit card.

How do payday loan companies get away with such high interest rates? Who would agree to those kinds of terms? 83% of the payday shops are located within 1/4 mile of distressed communities. Compare that to 51% of credit unions and only 34% of banks. Payday loans can charge that kind of interest because nobody else is serving that community. The poor in this country are sometimes referred to as the unbanked. That is to say the banking industry does little to provide them with the same services as they do wealthier consumers.

Conventional banks are not competing for this lucrative lending market, yet. The loan amounts are too small and the turn around is too short. Also payday loan companies have made applying and approval exceptionally easy compared to a bank application and approval process. With a payday loan the applicant simply has to verify his ID, have a checking account, and have proof of employment. Applications are usually approved same day and the funds are wired to the applicant’s bank the next day.

Payday loan customers don’t see the loans as a rip off. Firstly, where else can a person with bad credit get a loan to cover emergency needs? Secondly, payday loan customers don’t view the loans as an everyday resource but one that they will only use rarely. It’s like buying a $4 cup of coffee in an airport knowing you can get it for $1.50 at McDonalds but you’re trapped in the airport. You want the coffee so you buy it. Paying $60 two weeks from now in order to get $200 today so you can pay the utility bill is just the cost of doing business.

With unemployment nearly at 10%, payday loans are now tapping into a new market via the internet. Scores of payday loan companies are now reaching the formerly good credit customers who now find that there credit has taken a dive and are unable to obtain conventional lending. Online loans work the same way as the shop loans and are fast, convenient and offer the financial support that is not available otherwise.

As a one time deal to get over a temporary shortfall in cash, the payday loan can be useful if it is paid back in full at the end of the term. Where people get into trouble is they only pay the interest and stretch out the term of the loan. That interest can quickly become more than the loan amount itself. If you are considering such a loan, be sure you fully understand the terms and conditions.