In recent news, Ohio’s new payday lending law might not be going as smoothly as they had planned. According to dispatchpolitics.com, the public thought the commerce department (who regulates the payday lending industry) would be able to control the payday lenders from charging high interest rates on the short term loans.  It seems Ohians are getting around these new payday lending laws by offering short term loans under the Ohio Short Term Loan Act.  It seems they are trying to do anything possible to get around this newly implemented law.  Leadpile Lead Exchange will be keeping an eye on this to see if it affects the future lending laws of other states.

In recent news, South Carolina is the next state to be heading in the direction of payday lending regulations. According to the Augusta Chronicle, the South Carolina house of representatives has passed a bill preventing consumers from taking out more than one payday loan (up to $600) at a time. In addition to the number of payday loans being potentially allowed, the bill requires the industry to allow customers to go into a extended payment plan if they can’t meet that deadline (without incorporating more fees). This bill is now going to be headed to the Senate to be voted on. If this passes this is just another state that is cracking down on payday lenders. Leadpile Lead Exchange will be keeping an eye on this.

The problem is not necessarily that the rates are too high, however a lot of the issue is consumers who just don’t know if they can pay back the loan.  This is a concern of the consumer and also for the lenders. At some point or another money has to start flowing through to consumers for loans and lenders have to lend it. Where does the waterfall effect begin so the economy can start heading in the right direction? I am not sure anyone knows the answer, but in the meantime Leadpile Lead Exchange will generate those leads of people looking for various financial assistance.
Stay tuned……………..

According to The East Valley Tribune Saturday, Scottsdale City Council has voted to impose tougher regulations on payday loan stores that are in Scottsdale, AZ. This was imposed to try and decrease the number of stores in the city. The Scottsdale City Council had agreed to implement minimum distance requirements between these payday loan stores. The specifics of the new restrictions will be determined in upcoming council meetings. Mayor Mary Manross had previously requested the council to pursue new regulations, saying she wanted to avoid an increase in stores that do not “lend themselves to uplifting neighborhoods and centers.” Also, Proposition 200 will be voted on by the public in November to determine whether to allow payday loan operations to continue past their current expiration date of July 1, 2010.
Should Scottsdale be able to control the number of payday stores doing business in it’s city?

Easy Money, a payday lender with stores in Alabama, recently joined Borrow Smart Alabama – a TV  campaign aimed at encouraging borrowers to use loans wisely.

The title loan and cash advance industry, under fire for high-interest rates, have smartly recommended regulatory oversight which will help to promote legitimacy. Borrow Smart Alabama is comprised of more than 225 cash advance and title lenders in the state who have committed to a Code of Fair Lending.

Smart Move by Payday’s in Alabama.

In a continuing effort to research all the options consumers have available to them, I came across a type of loan that I have never seen before. The newest and latest way for consumers to get cash is by taking out a cash advance from their home. Currently, consumers that are age 65 and older have often looked at the option of doing a reverse mortgage. This is basically the consumer taking out a loan on their home, but the loan not being paid back till after they pass away. However, it appears there might be another option available to them.
Something new that lenders are looking at is offering consumers cash advances on their home. According to The New York Times, “Owners 65 to 85 with good credit who live in homes valued above $400,000 (above $500,000 in New York and California) can receive a payment of up to 15 percent of a home’s equity.” Something like this costs the consumer no closing costs unlike a reverse mortgage. There are certain stipulations the consumer has regarding the sale of the home, however the simplicity seems to be there compared to doing a reverse mortgage or other lending options. Yet is this a logical choice for consumers? Not everyone has a home valued above $400,000 either.

The options that homeowners now have are:
1. Refinancing
2. 2nd mortgage or lines of credit
3. Reverse mortgage
4. Home cash advance
5. Loan modification

and what’s next?…………………………….

Consumers are looking for anything and everything they can do to survive. Does this mean a potential new lead type for Leadpile Lead Exchange? Let’s wait and learn some more about this new option available.

We all use the internet as a source for information no matter what the topic is. Searching for information on the internet has truly become something we are “addicted” to. Well, there are a lot of resources available to search for information, besides just the search engines.
This great new website is a source for information that you will want to know more about. This site could be compared to such sites as About.com or chacha.com (which I did a previous post on).

What is Life123.com?
Life123 is the place to start when you need some answers to some questions you have about pretty much anything. The web site is full of experts that can help people quickly find information on a wide range of life topics.

Why Life123?
More and more, people are using search engines, however we are not always getting the information we need. According to the life123 website, roughly 75% of Americans experience search engine fatigue. Everyone has spent hours looking for information without finding what they really need.

What does Life123 cover?
Life123 covers 11 life categories: Beauty; Style, Celebrations, Food; Drink, Health; Wellness, Home; Garden, Money, Parenting; Family, Relationships, Technology, Travel; Leisure, and Work.

Enjoy LIFE!

The Following is a from Bankrate.com by Laura Bruce, September 12^th, 2005. I thought this would be an interesting post for People following Online Payday at the Lead Exchaneg Blog.

It’s a tempting alternative to walking into the check-cashing store on the corner. Online payday lenders are popping up on the Internet, offering fast, short-term loans to cash-strapped consumers, in the anonymous comfort of cyberspace.

But if you borrow from these businesses, you might have more to worry about than the astronomical interest rates traditionally associated with payday lenders in general.

For starters, you’ll provide an amazing amount of personal data — Social Security number, driver’s license number, mother’s maiden name and, of course, your name, address and employment information — to the Web site.

You’ll also give your checking account number and bank routing number, so the lender will have access to your account. The lender will deposit your loan into your checking account and dip into your account to extract interest, fees and the principal. Some require that you fax them your latest pay stub, most recent bank statement, photo ID and a voided check.

But to whom are you giving this information? More than likely you won’t have a clue. Many Web sites that pop up when you do a search for something such as “payday loans” aren’t lenders at all. Take Advance Cash Loans, which states at the bottom of its home page, “Advance Cash Loans is not an online provider of online payday cash advances. We simply connect people seeking fast cash advances with online providers of instant cash advances so they can get the advance cash that they need, as soon as possible.”

A Consumer Federation of America (CFA) survey, of 100 online payday lenders and referrals sites, found that many are run from outside the United States and, perhaps, out of reach of American laws.

“You don’t know where your information is going,” says Jean Ann Fox, director of consumer protection at CFA.

“Many times you can’t find who the domain is registered to. There are Internet payday lenders outside the country, in Canada and on islands in the Caribbean that you can’t find with a magnifying glass. It’s like handing a stranger a blank check.”

Bankrate.com tried to contact three payday lenders. Only one could be contacted, and no one there would answer questions or return calls.

Are these businesses fly-by-night scammers that will steal your identity, trap you into budget-busting, long-term borrowing habits, or illegally siphon money out of your bank account? Nope, not necessarily. But you should think long and hard before sending your information to companies that are so stingy about their own information, Fox says.

“If you borrow from them, you’re not seen in line at the corner payday lender, so there’s privacy and that might be a selling point. But I hope it’s offset by sending all that personal information over the Internet. It’s a financial strip search. They want every piece of your financial information. People should be afraid to provide that information. I wouldn’t want to give that to someone over the counter, much less over the Internet.”

Traditional payday lenders — the so-called brick-and-mortar shops — are represented by Community Financial Services of America, a trade association. Online payday lenders have no such organization and, therefore, have no one to represent them. But Andy Jacob, CEO of Leadpile.com, a company that seeks leads for salespeople in the cash-advance business and other industries, calls the growth in online payday lending “explosive.”

“What’s happening in online is happening fast and furious. The major players are trying to position themselves to be the leader online. It’s a bifurcated space right now. There are many players that are lead generators that aren’t in the payday loan space and they’re attempting to secure the lead to themselves. Many payday-loan companies are late to the game. It’s challenging to figure out which company is doing what right now.”

The growth of online payday lending is presenting problems for state law enforcement officials and consumer advocates. Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation ordered 91 companies marketing Internet payday loans to stop. The companies were reportedly charging annual percentage rates averaging 300 percent and fees averaging $30. The state says none of the companies were licensed to offer loans to residents.

Some of the letters we sent to these companies were returned when the post office was unable to find the address,” says David Cotney, senior deputy commissioner at the Massachusetts Division of Banks. “That reinforces our concern about consumers handing over personal information. That’s one of the reasons licensing is required; it gives the consumer some recourse.”

James Brusselback, enforcement chief at Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, says his division is investigating some 10 online payday lenders.

“The difficulty with the online outfits is in locating them, and then some of them claim that our state law doesn’t apply to them, so we have that issue of trying to bring them under our state law. I guess part of their argument is that they’re not located in the state and that their home-state law is sufficient to protect their customers. The requirements in those states — Nevada and Utah — are far less than what we require.”

Karolyn Klohe, financial legal examiner in Brusselback’s department, says consumers can have a tough time stopping online payday lenders from taking money out of their accounts.

“A common complaint against online payday lenders is that the customer is required to give banking information, whereas if they walk into a payday lender store they give them a postdated check. But what’s happening online is the payday lender uses the bank information to make unauthorized withdrawals from the consumer’s account. They say they’re collecting funds owed to them. They can make these withdrawals in a way they can’t with a postdated check.”

Turning to a payday lender — online or on the corner — is almost universally discouraged by consumer advocates. But the alternatives can seem thin to someone who needs cash to see them through to the next paycheck. Many banks offer bounced-check protection plans that consumer advocates often equate with payday lending. A notable difference, perhaps, is that the consumer is less likely to be able to overdraw several times and end up owing money they probably can’t repay.

“The long-term solutions include getting a good spending plan and building a nest egg of savings,” says Fox. If you can afford to pay $45 every payday to keep a $300 loan from bouncing, then you can afford to save it so you don’t need to borrow in the future.

“Pawn shops are cheaper than payday loans. On rare occasions you can ask your employer for an advance. Negotiate directly with whomever you owe. Get a second job. Put off purchases until you can pay. None of these are comfortable. It’s appealing to write the check without having money in your checking account and walk out with cash, but it comes at a high price.”

In their survey of Internet payday loan sites, CFA found that loans of $200 to $2,500 were available, but $500 was the most-frequently offered. Finance charges ranged from $10 per $100 up to $30 per $100 borrowed. The most common rate of $25 per $100 translates into an annual percentage rate of approximately 650 percent if the loan is repaid in two weeks.

Many states have passed laws regulating payday and small loan laws. Consumer Federation of America has compiled important information that consumers should be familiar with before borrowing.

While thinking about customer service I was thinking of ways that make customers want to come back to companies that give that Great customer service. There are several ways to accomplish this. What makes them great at what they do to retain those customers? 

•  ANSWER THE PHONE – Just by having someone picking up the phone and saying “Thanks you for calling” is a great way to make the customer feel welcome and happy that they called your business.  
• DON’T MAKE PROMISES UNLESS YOU WILL KEEP THEM – Reliability is important and keeping promises is even more important. Don’t just plan on keeping a promise, DO it. Don’t tell them you will call them on one day then forget to call them for another 2 days. If you keep your promise or don’t remain reliable, the customer will remember. 
• LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMER – Don’t you hate it when you have told something to someone and realize that they have not heard anything that you just said? Think about your customers and how they feel. It is just as frustrating for them as it would be for you if you were treated that way. Let them talk and make appropriate responses, but pay attention to what they are saying. Take notes if you have to. Then suggest a resolution if necessary. 
• DEAL WITH COMPLAINTS – Smile through it. This may be when you feel like throwing up your hands and arguing with your customer, but that will only turn them away. Let them know you are going to look into what they are complaining about and that you will do your best to resolve this. However, don’t ever let them know that you are frustrated at them. This can easily turn into BAD customer service. 
• BE HELPFUL (Even if there is no immediate profit in it) – Even the simplest thing can be something like opening a door, answering a simple question, saying ma’am or sir, or lending a helping hand. You never know when someone will tell another person just how nice you were. 
• TRAIN YOUR STAFF (if you have any) TO BE ALWAYS HELPFUL, COURTEOUS, AND KNOWLEDGEABLE – Either hire someone or do it yourself. Give your staff enough information and empowerment to make a decision.  You don’t always want to have your employees having to come running to you to check on if they can do something or not. It can be annoying to have the salesman in front of you who keeps running off, “I have to go check with my manager, and I will be right back.” 
• TAKE THE EXTRA STEP – Ever walk in to a store and ask where something is and someone says “it’s over there” and points in an area “over there”? How annoying is that? Ever walk into a store and ask someone where something is and someone says “its right over here, I’ll show you.” Which experience do you think will be a more positive experience to tell others about?
• THROW IN SOMETHING EXTRA – Whether it is extra information on how to use something, or even a coupon for a discount. People like to receive extra things. Give them something that the customer will remember you for, and keep them coming back. 

If you are consistent in the way that you think and use your customer service skills, you can become Great in whatever your business is doing, retain current customers, and create new customer service relationships. 

Ontario Payday did it right! Ohio should have followed their example.

And yes, The legendary Naigra Falls straddles the Niagara River between Ontario and New York.

According to Investment Executive,  “The Ontario government says that the new Payday Loans Act, 2008 will enhance consumer protection by licensing all payday lending industry operators and banning controversial lending practices.

 Payday Lenders will be required to include all charges consumers are required to pay, a cooling-off period; and, operators will contribute to a public education fund on payday lending”.Apparently, the Canadian Payday Loan Association (CPLA) welcomed the passage of the Ontario legislation. This looks to be a good compromise for the industry. Unlike the Ohio bill that appears to be overreaching.The Ohio Payday players should have looked to the Ohio bill as an example of a “good compromise”