Payday Loan

A payday loan or paycheck advance is a small, short-term loan that is intended to cover a borrower's expenses until his or her next payday. Typical loans are between $100 and $1500, on a two-week term and have interest rates in the range of 390 percent to 900 percent (annualized). The loans are also sometimes referred to as cash advances, though that term can also refer to cash provided against a prearranged line of credit such as a credit card.
Though payday lending is primarily regulated at the state level, the United States Congress passed a law in October 2006 that caps lending to military personnel at 36% APR. The Defense Department called payday lending practices "predatory," and military officers cited concerns that payday lending exacerbated soldiers' financial challenges, jeopardized security clearances, and even interfered with deployment schedules to Iraq.
Some federal banking regulators and legislators seek to restrict or prohibit the loans not just for military personnel, but for all borrowers, because the high costs are viewed as an unnecessary financial drain on the lower and lower-middle class populations who are the primary borrowers.
Lenders say these loans are often the only option available to consumers with bad credit or who cannot get a bank loan, credit card, or other lower-interest alternatives. Critics counter most borrowers find themselves in a worse position when the loan is due than they were when they took the loan, with many getting trapped in a cycle of debt.
The industry's fast-paced growth indicates a highly profitable business model. Statistics compiled by the Center for Responsible Lending show that the majority of the industry's profit comes from repeat borrowers who are unable to repay loans on the due date and instead repeatedly renew their loans, paying fees each time.

Internet lending

Online payday loans are marketed through e-mail, online search, paid ads, and referrals. Typically, a consumer fills out an online application form or faxes a completed application that requests personal information, bank account numbers, Social Security number and employer information. Borrowers fax copies of a check, a recent bank statement, and signed paperwork. The loan is direct deposited into the consumer's checking account and loan payment or the finance charge is electronically withdrawn on the borrower's next payday.

Examples

For example, a borrower seeking a payday loan may write a post-dated personal check for $460 to borrow $400 for up to 14 days. The 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 $460 in cash, or renew the loan (a.k.a. "flip the loan") by paying off the $460 and then immediately taking an additional loan of $400, in effect extending the loan for another two weeks. In many states, "flipping" or "rolling over" the loan is not allowed. In states where there is an extended payment plan, the borrower could choose to opt into a payment plan. If the borrower does not refinance the loan, the lender may deposit the check. In this example, the cost of the initial loan is a $60 finance charge, or 390% percent APR.
When the Consumer Federation of America conducted a survey of 100 internet payday loan sites, it found loans from $200 to $2,500 were available, with $500 the most frequently offered. Finance charges ranged from $10 per $100 up to $30 per $100 borrowed. The most frequent rate was $25 per $100, or 650% annual interest rate (APR) if the loan is repaid in two weeks.

Regulation and legislation

Regulation of lending institutions is handled primarily by individual states, and this growing industry exists atop an active and shifting legal landscape. Lenders lobby to enable payday lending practices, while opponents of the industry lobby to prohibit the high cost loans in the name of consumer protection.
Payday lending is legal and regulated in 37 states. In Georgia and 12 other states, it is either illegal or not feasible, given state law. When not explicitly banned, laws that prohibit payday lending are usually in the form of usury limits: hard interest rate caps calculated strictly by APR.
In the United States, most states have usury laws which forbid interest rates in excess of a certain APR. Payday lenders have succeeded in getting around usury laws in some states by forming relationships with banks chartered in a different state with no usury ceiling (such as South Dakota or Delaware). This practice has been referred to as "Rate exportation", the "agency model" and the "rent-a-bank" model. Under the legal doctrine of rate exportation, established by Marquette Nat. Bank v. First of Omaha Corp. 439 U.S. 299 (1978), the loan is governed by the laws of the state the bank is chartered in. This is the same doctrine that allows credit card issuers based in South Dakota and Delaware — states that abolished their usury laws — to offer credit cards nationwide. As federal banking regulators became aware of this practice, they began prohibiting these partnerships between commercial banks and payday lenders. The FDIC still allows its member banks to participate in payday lending, but it did issue guidelines in March 2005 that are meant to discourage long term debt cycles by transitioning to a longer term loan after 6 payday loan renewals.
For usury laws to be effective, they need to include all loan fees as part of the interest. Otherwise, lenders can charge any amount they want as fees and still claim a low interest rate.
Some states have laws limiting the number of loans a borrower can take at a single time. Some states also cap the number of loans per borrower per year, or require that after a fixed number of loan-renewals, the lender must offer a lower interest loan with a longer term, so that the borrower can eventually get out of the debt cycle. Borrowers often circumvent these laws by taking loans from more than one lender.