Payday Lending

This book analyzes the highly contentious payday lending industry, presenting valuable new data collected during Canada's recent regulatory reviews and demonstrating its relevance to payday lending conversations taking place worldwide. The authors treat the industry with a balanced hand by establishing its importance as an example of financialization and acknowledging the complex impact of payday lending services on low-income and credit-constrained clients. Up-to-date data from an interdisciplinary mix of financial, econometric, legal, behavioral economic, and socioeconomic sources—all in the context of an established Canadian industry—provide both proponents and opponents of payday lending with valuable evidence for their discussions of how much regulation is required to minimize harmful consequences. These insights from Canada expand a US-centric conversation and provide a key resource for the growing list of countries in which the industry is present, from the UK and Poland to South Africa and Australia.

Learn how a catastophic spiral of payday loan debt was conceived, endured and defeated. This is the story of Steve Perry's battle against the industry, a fight which has left its scars on both sides, it's a story to give strength to all of those who are in payday hell.

Payday Lending looks at the growth of the high cost credit industry from the early payday lending industry in the early 1990s to its development in the US as a highly profitable industry around the world.

This book proposes a new way of thinking about the controversial and complex challenges associated with the regulation of high-cost credit, specifically payday lending. These products have received significant attention in both the media and political arena. The inadequacy of regulatory interventions has created ongoing problems with the provision of high-cost credit, particularly for consumers with lesser bargaining power and who are already financially vulnerable. The book tackles two specific gaps in the existing literature. The first involves inadequate analysis of the relevant philosophical concepts around high-cost credit, which can result in an over-simplification of what are particularly complex issues. The second is a lack of engagement in both the market and lived experience of borrowers, resulting in limited understanding of those who use these financial products. The Future of High-Cost Credit explores the theoretical grounding, policy initiatives and interdisciplinary perspectives associated with high-cost credit, making a novel and insightful contribution to the existing literature. The problems with debt extend far beyond the legal sphere, and the book will therefore be of interest to many other academic disciplines, as well as for those working in public policy and 'the third sector'.

In the U.S., payday lending (PL) is a $40 billion a year industry. A PL is a small-dollar loan -- from $100 to $500 and re-payable in about two weeks. Consumers can pay fees of $15-20 for every $100 borrowed. In 2006 the DoD reported on predatory lending, incl. PL, and found that these loans impacted military readiness and troop morale. Concerns were raised about PL to federal employees in law enforcement and national security positions at four components. This report examined: (1) how these federal law enforcement agencies become aware of employees who are potential security risks due to financial problems, including PL; and (2) various alternatives to PL. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand edition of an important, hard-to-find report.