Payday Loan Demographics Study – December 2010
A common myth is that payday loan consumers are mostly poor, uneducated and African American. This stereotype is often used by politicians when trying to justify “feel good” payday loan laws that end up hurting consumers.
In this Payday Loan Demographics Study, we examine the gender, age, ethnicity, household income and education of 2,228,799 unique visitors to the 18 payday loan sites listed on our Compare Lenders page.
It is intended as a follow up to our Demographic Study of Online Payday Loan Consumers posted in 2008 but it looks at a data pool ten times the size of our previous sample.
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Demographic Study of Online Payday Loan Consumers
Government-knows-best bureaucrats would have us believe that payday lenders “prey on the poor and uneducated.”
A payday loan shop employee, on the other hand, told us that most of their customers are educated, make over $30,000 a year and (ironically) work for the government.
We decided to do a demographic study of online payday loan consumers to see where the truth really lies. Let’s take a quick look at the gender, age, household income, ethnicity and household education of visitors to a popular online payday loan website…
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Military Lending Act – Payday Loan Alternatives for Armed Forces Personnel After October 1st, 2007
The Military Lending Act takes effect today. By capping loans at 36 percent APR, the act is a de facto ban on payday loans to members of the armed forces.
What are the emergency loan options for military personnel after October 1st, 2007?
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Six Payday Loan Laws that Hurt Consumers
In an attempt to protect consumers, regulatory agencies and city councils sometimes create misguided laws that end up harming the consumers they are trying to protect.
Many times, the laws end up punishing ethical payday lenders and borrowers who use payday loans responsibly. Some of these laws will drive licensed lenders out of business and push borrowers into the arms of unregulated, illegal loan sharks.
Let’s take a look at six payday loan laws that hurt consumers…
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‘Skip a Payment’ Scam – Banks Offer Expensive ‘Gift’ During Holiday Season
Note: This article was originally posted in 2006 but we brought it to the front page again in 2010 because this scam keeps turning up every year.
During the holiday season, many banks invite borrowers to “skip” a car payment as a “gift” to help customers stretch their holiday dollar.
Unfortunately, this “gift” is only a gift for bankers. It increases the bank’s profit at the borrower’s expense.
In fact, if you express this “gift” in terms of APR, it may end up costing more than a payday loan…
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Payday Loan Checklist – Six Things You Must Do After Taking Out an Online Payday Loan
Payday loans are the most expensive form of credit and should be avoided at all costs.
If you exhaust all alternatives and end up using a payday lender, there are things you can do to minimize your chances of having to use one again.
Below is a list of things you must do after taking out a payday loan…
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Payday Loan Checklist – Ten Things You Must Do Before Applying for an Online Payday Loan
Payday loans are short-term, high-interest loans fraught with financial, legal and personal information pitfalls.
The best way to avoid these pitfalls, of course, is to find a payday loan alternative.
If you have no other choice and must use a payday lender, however, there are ten things you must do to minimize risks and reduce exposure…
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Are Payday Loan Companies Really Predatory Lenders?
Many politicians, reporters and military leaders refer to payday loan companies as “predatory” lenders.
Is this an accurate description or do we need a better term?
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Five Things You Can Do If a Payday Lender Threatens or Harasses You by Phone
Some of our readers report being threatened and/or harassed over the phone when they were unable to repay their online payday loans.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) protects consumers from unethical collection practices by debt collectors. Unfortunately, this law does not apply to payday lenders* because they do not meet the definition of “debt collector” under federal law.
*We would like to thank Jillian for kindly pointing this out.
If a lender threatens or harasses you by phone, you are not protected by the FDCPA but there are still things you can do to protect yourself and others.
Listed below are five things you can do if a payday lender threatens or harasses you by phone…
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Twelve Differences Between Payday Lenders and Credit Card Companies
Due to the popularity of our article Sixteen Differences Between Payday Lenders and Loan Sharks, we decided to compare payday lenders and credit card companies…
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