Payday loan
A payday loan or cash advance is a small, short-term loan (typically up to $500) without a credit check that is intended to bridge the borrower's cashflow gap between pay days. Note, however, that the term cash advance can also mean cash provided against a prearranged line of credit such as a credit card.
Process
The loan is typically given in cash and secured by the borrower's post-dated check that includes the original loan principal and accrued interest. The maturity date usually coincides with the borrower's next pay day. On the maturity date the lender processes the check traditionally or through electronic withdrawal from the borrower's checking account.
Payday lenders typically operate small stores or franchises, but large financial service providers also offer variations on the payday advance. Some mainstream banks offer a "direct deposit advance" for customers whose paychecks are deposited electronically. Some income tax preparation firms partner with lenders to offer "refund anticipation loans" to filers.
Example
For example, a borrower seeking a payday loan may write a post-dated personal check for $115 to borrow $100 for up to 14 days. The check casher or payday lender agrees to hold the check until the borrower's next payday. At that time, the borrower has the option to redeem the check by paying $115 in cash, or refinance ("roll-over") the check by paying a fee to extend the loan for another two weeks. If the borrower does not refinance the loan, the lender deposits the check. In this example, the cost of the initial loan is a $15 finance charge, or 391 percent APR. Many states do not allow rollovers or limit the number of rollovers but, for example, if the borrower chooses to roll-over the loan three times, the finance charge would climb to $60 to borrow $100.
Controversy
As a form of subprime lending, such as high interest rate credit cards, payday lending is the subject of controversy. Some critics claim that payday lenders target the young and the poor, near military bases and in low-income communities, who may not understand the time value of money. Others go further, comparing payday lenders to loan sharks due to high interest rates-- typically 250% or more when annualized. There have been reported cases in which payday lenders have pursued criminal bad check charges, despite the fact that they (presumably) knew the check was bad at the time when it was written. Likewise, it is argued that the interest rates on payday lending (and on rent to own) unfairly disadvantage the poor, compared to the middle class who pay at most 25% or so on their credit cards.
Defenders of the higher interest rates note that payday loan processing costs do not differ much from their higher-principal, longer-term counterparts such as home mortgages. They argue that conventional interest rates at these lower dollar amounts and shorter terms would not be profitable. For example, a $100 one-week loan, at a 20% APR (compounded weekly) would only generate 38 cents of interest, which would fail to match loan processing costs.
A study by the FDIC Center for Financial Research found that “operating costs lie in the range of advance fees” [collected] and that, after subtracting fixed operating costs and “unusually high rate of default losses,” payday loans “may not necessarily yield extraordinary profits.” Based on the annual reports of publicly traded payday loan companies, loan losses can average 15% or more of loan revenue. Underwriters of Payday loans, must also deal with people presenting fraudulent checks as security or making stop payments.
Payday loan makers also argue that the interest on a payday loan is less than the costs associated with bounced checks or late credit card payments. For example, bouncing a $100 check may inccur an NSF fee from the bank of $28 and a returned check fee of $25 from the merchant.
In comparison, when expressed as APRs for two-week terms:
- $100 pawn loan with 20% service fee= 240% APR;
- $100 payday advance with $15 fee= $391% APR;
- $100 bounced check with $48 NSF/merchant fees = 1,251% APR;
- $100 credit card balance with $26 late fee = 678% APR;
- $100 utility bill with $50 late/reconnect fees = 1,304% APR.
See also
External links
- Payday Lending: Serving the Unbanked - Article by Mike Foley.
- In Defense of Payday Lending - Article by Tom Lehman.
- How the Other Half Banks - Slate.com's article on the payday loan business.
- FDIC guidelines on Payday lending
- Community Financial Services Association of America - Payday lenders' trade association