Loans from federal credit unions are currently capped at 18%, though some qualifying short-term loans can go as high as 28% (plus a $20 fee). These numbers are far below the standard three-digit APRs you see on payday loans, but a small number of credit unions are still figuring out ways to hook customers up with these questionable, high-interest loans. [More]
Report: Some Credit Unions Are Still Involved In Payday Lending
By May 16, 2013
How Predatory Lenders Get Around The Law To Loan Money To Military Personnel
By May 15, 2013
In spite of the Military Lending Act, a law intended to prevent predatory lenders from gouging military personnel with exorbitant interest rates and mountains of fees, some of these lenders have figured out ways to work around the very specific limits of the law, targeting active-duty service members with loans that are almost indistinguishable from the ones forbidden by the Act. [More]
Installment Loan Borrowers Being Saddled With Unnecessary Insurance Add-Ons
By May 13, 2013
Installment loans are typically, shorter-term, high-interest, loans to borrowers with severely damaged credit. These loans usually have longer terms than the 2-3 week turnaround for payday loans, and the borrower agrees to pay the money back in equal, monthly installments, but some of those who have worked at installment lenders say these loans are laden with charges aimed at getting around interest-rate rules and keeping the borrower in a cycle of indebtedness. [More]
Report Claims Payday Loans Result In Net Loss Of Money, Jobs
By May 2, 2013
Among the reasons given in support of payday loans — short-term, high-interest loans intended to get the borrower through to the next paycheck — is that they ultimately provide a net good to the economy, allowing the borrower to keep spending and earning interest for the lender. But a recent report casts some doubt on that belief. [More]
State Lawmakers Consider Limits On ‘Payday’ Lawsuit Loans
By April 29, 2013
We’ve written a lot over the years about standard payday loans — short-term, high-interest loans from non-bank lenders — and similar deposit-advance loans offered by some of the nation’s largest banks. But there is a growing form of short-term loan that lawmakers are concerned about — loans to plaintiffs of pending lawsuits. [More]
The Average Payday Loan Borrower Spends More Than Half The Year In Debt To Lender
By April 26, 2013
The idea of the payday loan — a short-term, high-interest loan intended to help the borrower stay afloat until his next paycheck — is not inherently a bad notion. However, a new study confirms what we’ve been saying for years: That many payday borrowers are taking out loans they can’t pay back in the short-term, and that lenders rely on this revolving door format to keep the fees rolling in. [More]
Is It Legal For Employers To Make Employees Pay For Uniforms?
By April 12, 2013
Millions of Americans have jobs that require them to sport a uniform of some sort. This is especially true in retail, food service, hospitality, and other public-facing industries where uniforms further the brand and aid customers in identifying employees. But should — and can — employers require that workers fork over their own money to cover the costs of these outfits? [More]
Worst Company In America Round 1: Chase Vs. Wells Fargo
March 21, 2013
The tournament’s first banking battle gets Day Three of WCIA competition off with a bang! [More]
Getting A Car Loan Might Someday Depend On How Well-Updated Your LinkedIn Page Is
By February 12, 2013
Whether they admit to it or now, we all know that some employers and schools stalk applicants’ Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and all the other ways in which someone can make a fool of himself online. But should your social media connections be involved in applying for a loan? [More]
Bank Employee Explains Why It Takes So Dang Long To Process Debit Card Fraud Claims & Disputes… And Other Fun Stuff
By January 17, 2013
We hear a lot from readers who say their debit cards were charged for services they didn’t receive — whether by fraud or by ineptitude on the part of a merchant — and who are now waiting for their bank to please put back the money that was wrongfully taken from them. [More]
Professor Tries, Fails To Defend Payday Lending As Legitimate Form Of Credit
By January 16, 2013
Most regular readers of Consumerist know that we’re not exactly fans of payday loans, which charge upwards of 25 times the interest of a high-interest credit card and hundreds of times the interest on a standard loan. And yet, there are people — well-educated people at that — who stick with the argument that payday loans are a good thing. [More]
Senators Call For An End To Payday Lending By Banks
By January 10, 2013
Four of the nation’s largest banks — Wells Fargo, Fifth Third Bank, U.S. Bank and Regions Bank — are involved in high-interest, short-term loans that may not always be called “payday” loans but might as well be. Thus, a group of five U.S. senators have asked regulators to put a stop to the practice altogether. [More]
Wells Fargo Called Out For Continuing To Offer Payday Loans
By December 7, 2012
The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 requires that FDIC-insured banks be examined and rated on whether or not they are meeting the banking needs in each of the communities in which they are chartered. But a pair of advocacy groups claim Wells Fargo deserves a lowered CRA rating because of loans that smell a lot like payday loans. [More]
Online Payday Loan Peddlers Apparently Skirting The Law By Setting Up Shop On Reservations
By November 5, 2012
When someone wants your money, they’ll go to quite sneaky lengths to get your business. That’s what one Oregon senator says online loan sharks are doing, by opening on Native American reservations so as to get around state and federal consumer protection laws. State laws don’t work on tribal lands, a situation which has turned such lands into veritable havens for payday lenders trying to skirt regulation. [More]
City Attorney Using That Song Everyone Knows To Call Attention To Payday Loan Settlement
By September 19, 2012
If there’s some possible way you’ve avoided hearing that pop song where the girl is like hey perhaps you should ring me on the telephone (paraphrasing so as not to unintentionally force you to get it in your head), then we applaud you on your success. But because it seems most of the country, if not the galaxy has heard it, it makes sense that the city attorney for San Francisco is trying to use the song’s popularity in order to spread the word to potential claimants about a recent payday loan settlement. [More]
Overheard In 10 Million American Households: Bank Account? What Bank Account?
By September 14, 2012
I used to know a guy who kept his money hidden in his home because he didn’t trust banks. Like, all of it. He would never tell me where, obviously, guess though I may (Freezer? Under the mattress? Behind the “secret” DVD collection?). He isn’t alone — there are 10 million American households that don’t have bank accounts, a number that is increasing every day. [More]
Bet You Didn't Know Businesses Are Using A New Secret E-Score To Judge Your Buying Power
By August 20, 2012
There are plenty of scores we know about — the score of the football game, the points your friend just scored against you in a word game on your phone and won’t stop crowing about — heck, some of us even still brag about our SAT scores. And of course, there are traditional credit scores. But there’s a new digital player in the scoring game, and it could be troublesome for many consumers, as it operates under the cover of almost complete secrecy. [More]
Mystery Denny's Diner Pays Tab For Everyone In Restaurant
By August 8, 2012
Everyone loves a free lunch, especially when there are no strings attached. Just ask the 60 or so diners at a California Denny’s who were treated to gratis grub by a mystery woman who decided to pay for everyone’s meals. [More]
