1. Do you think of an industry out there taking advantage of consumers?
2. Or, do you think about an industry providing people with relief and peace of mind during this financial crisis?

Most people would say answer a.  But is that true or do we need to educate ourselves regarding this part of the financial industry?  Who are the people that need these payday loans and do they have other options?

According to www.census.gov the official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent, which was up from 14.3 percent in 2009.  In 2010, 46.2 million people were in poverty, which was up from 43.6 million in 2009.

Those are staggering numbers.  People are having a hard time making ends meet. From 2009 to 2010 an additional 2.6 million people were at poverty level.  Where did they come from?  Middle Class families?  Low Income families?   Who is out there helping them get back on their feet?  The banks?  With the foreclosures on homes, the increased account fees, overdraft fees and high credit guidelines… what do you think?

What sort of monthly expenses do all of us face? Rent/Mortgage, utility bills, insurance, car payment, food allowance just to name a few.  If you are running out of money at the end of the month what would you sacrifice?  Your electric bill?  Your rent?  Your car loan?  Or just overdraft your bank account?  All of those choices involve late fees or overdraft fees and may incur being harassed by credit agencies or having your electricity turned off, being kicked out of your home or having your vehicle repossessed.  None of those sound like viable solutions to me.

According to www.wikipedia.org the definition for a payday loan is “a small, short-term loan that is intended to cover a borrower’s expenses until his or her next payday.”   That is truly what a payday loan is there for.  Many times you will hear payday opponents talk about high interest fees, but when you research these fees in comparison to bank charges and late fees of missing necessary payments and/or possible repossessions/foreclosures/losing electricity, going hungry etc. – which sounds better to you?

So before we judge the financial institutions giving payday loans or the people receiving such loans – let’s make sure that we look at the situation from all angles, and form an educated decision.

Back to the counter, the agent asked “will you be checking any bags today?”  Yes, we have 4 bags…  She then got a huge smile on her face, rubbed hands together and said,  “How would you like to pay for your bag fees, credit card or…?  (I swear she stared drooling out of the side of her mouth like she just got back from the dentist getting a cavity filled)  I cut her off and said, “what bag fees”?  Sir, to check your bags on this flight its $120, how would you like to pay for that?

I had a heart attack fell on the floor, starting convulsing… After I recovered from said heart attack, I calmed myself down, talked it out with my fiancé a bit, sucked it up and put the $120 on my credit card.

Now, we’re on the plane, I’ve started drinking already, granted it was only 10AM, but I needed something to help with the pain..

Our trip was great, had a fabulous time on the beach, relaxing for 6 days, enjoying the sunshine and each others company..

…Now the trip is over. Not yet ready to get back to reality, but will be nice to be home however.

We’re all set, packed up, called a cab to get us from the hotel..  Got to the airport, walked up to the ticket counter gave the very nice lady our tickets, she asked us, “Will you be checking any bags with us today?”  Yes, we will be checking 4 bags today.

The next words out of her mouth were the most unexpected words I would hear,  “That will be $120 or your bag fees, how would you like to pay for those today?”

Holy $*@#$% I feel another heart attack coming on…  I said to the lady behind the counter, I already paid for those in Phoenix. No Sir, I’m sorry, you only paid your bag fees for one way.  WHAT!!!!!  Are you kidding me??  I have to pay another $120 for bag fees??

Yes, that’s correct sir, how would you like to pay for that today?

At this point, I’m so frustrated I stared laughing in fear that I was going to do something stupid at the airport and end up in jail.

I gave her my credit card, ONCE AGAIN!!!  She ran the card and said, “thank you sir, I hope you have a wonderful flight”.  YEAH, WHATEVER LADY!!!

So after all of this, we were sitting on the plane, I said to my fiancé you know what, “we just paid $900 for roundtrip tickets that should have only cost us $650.

Again, I started drinking again, to ease the pain…

I have two words for every airline out there that charges bag fees… CON ARTIST!!

You may have to take out a PayDay Loan to pay your bag fees….

If you have a choice in choosing an airline that flies to your destination, I would recommend Southwest Airlines for your travels…

I hope you enjoyed this story. I still haven’t recovered from this completely. If anyone has recommendations on how to get through this, feel free to respond.

Safe travels everyone…

Recently, as the demand to borrow money has become necessary for many, personal loans have been in demand and the supply is starting to make a comeback. Personal loans, can offer the longer terms and higher borrowing amounts than payday is typically able to and offers a much better option and interest rate than credit cards do.

Recently, according to CBS MoneyWatch, banks including Wells Fargo, Discover Financial, Citi and CapitalOne are all currently offering personal loans.

Wells Fargo – loaning $3,000 – $10,000 for lengths as long as five years
Citi – $300 – $7.500
Discover Financial – lending up to $25,000

In June, a temporary exemption from the 36% cap expired in Arizona causing most lenders to abandon the state. With the costs involved, operating under the cap is not possible for majority of them. Losing the lenders and options for quick, short-term loans leaves a large number of consumers without other options in times of need. Hopefully, Montana will be able to come up with a solution for both side of this!

The traditional payday loan is between $100 – $1,500 and paid back on the consumers next two pay dates, offering at times an extension for an added fee. ZestCash differs from these loans by allowing the loan amount and length to be chosen by the consumer. The consumer is shown the amount of the loan chosen broken down by weekly payments (which are auto debited from the customers bank account) prior to the loan being given.

Currently, ZestCash has a $500 borrowing limit only operating online without any brick and mortar locations.

The traditional payday loan is between $100 – $1,500 and paid back on the consumers next two pay dates, offering at times an extension for an added fee. ZestCash differs from these loans by allowing the loan amount and length to be chosen by the consumer. The consumer is shown the amount of the loan chosen broken down by weekly payments (which are auto debited from the customers bank account) prior to the loan being given.

Currently, ZestCash has a $500 borrowing limit operating online without any brick and mortar locations.

PDLindustry.com blog is reporting some new Wisconsin lending laws will be taking effect in January. These changes could affect those payday loan lenders that we are working with online, but also affect those lenders that are running the brick and mortar stores.

Some of the new changes in Wisconsin will be:

* There will no longer be title loans available
* Payday loans will have no interest rate cap
* 90 day minimum term
* The maximum principal and interest is $1,500
* There will be a state database in place
* Customer files will be maintained for 3 years
* There will be no late fees
* There will be no no wage garnishment or criminal prosecution on debtors

Payday loans, once only available through storefront operations, requiring clients to stand in line can now be applied for, and obtained through online lenders. Licensed Lenders have made applying for a payday loans over the Internet very fast and simple and it typically only requires a small amount of personal information and seldom is a credit check is necessary. Lenders approved funds are submitted directly into their client’s checking account, thus avoiding any unnecessary lengthy paperwork.

Most online payday lenders have a minimum required age of 18 and a necessary minimum monthly income for the borrower. Loan amounts range between $100- $1,500 depending on the lender and the needs of the borrower. A loan can often be received the same day, with repayment due 14 – 30 days after.

In a struggling economy where many people are in need of occasional help, a payday loan can help them through a tough time.