In Kentucky, Rep. Geoff Davis objects to a national proposal that would limit interest rates for soldiers that acquire regular or no faxing payday loans. The question on the minds of many consumer groups, therefore, is:

Why?

The Pentagon has accused payday lenders of surrounding its military posts with the intention of exploiting troops.

Davis' chief of staff claims Davis opposes the amendment because it would impose a 36 percent cap only on payday cash loan lenders, but not other types of businesses that target service members.

The proposal is an amendment to the 2007 defense authorization bill. It's currently being debated in Congress, but the following tidbit calls Davis ' motives into question:

• He received more than $11,000 from CNG Financial, which owns national payday lender Check 'n' Go, in campain contributions.

That fact was reported by the Center for Responsive Politics and we'll have more on this story as it develops. But could a payday loan company connection be getting in the way of Davis doing what he actually think is right?

Say this about resident of Virginia: they get their voices heard on issues such as payday loans. Letters to the editor are common.

Here's another one, written by Peggy White of Newport News to The Daily Press. We've paraphrased it …

Recently, state Del. Glenn Oder received quite a bit of attention regarding his leadership on the issues of faxless payday loan lending and curtailing the rising costs of textbooks. Hugh Lessig highlighted Oder's victorious college textbook legislation in his article "Lowering college textbook costs," Aug. 23, and a letter to the editor, "Put an end to payday loans," Aug. 24, depicted Oder's fight.

There's a common thread that runs through Oder's legislative work - his passion to improve the lives of individuals and families. In both quick payday advance lending and textbook costs, Oder has set out to put laws in place that protect the earnings of hardworking people.

While Oder's college textbook law has already passed and gone into effect, we are still waiting for the General Assembly to put an end to the government-sanctioned loan-sharking business of cash loan lending - the business that preys on working civilians and our military in Virginia.

It is my hope that all other local legislators will demonstrate as much strength of character as Oder - promoting policies that will strengthen our families, our economy and our military. They can do this by joining Oder in his fight to end predatory payday cash advance lending practices in Virginia.

So … you're interested in a payday loan online, but have concerns about how well your information will be kept private? It's an understandable worry.

But it's not needed. Let's start by going through the facts and figures taken down by lenders via this process:

1. The information provided by the applicant on the online form, such as years or months of employment and the monthly wage.

2. The data regarding the client’s transactions with the no fax cash loan lender such as the amounts previously loaned and payments made.

3. The record of the client’s transactions with other companies or lenders, such as whether the client has applied for other payday loans or not.

4. The report from a consumer agency, but this report is not about the client’s credit history because that's never an issue with these resources.

Sadly, there are unscrupulous hackers out there. That's why you do need to be careful. To prevent any violation of privacy, online lenders have installed comprehensive and tight security measures. Such measures are meant to keep the confidentiality and integrity of the information provided by a payday advance loan applicant.

One of these security measures is called the 128-bit SSL encryption technology. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. The SSL ensures that any data transmitted from one computer to another cannot be viewed publicly by anyone.

Another security measure is, of course, the client’s username and password. Once you come up with these, no one else will have access to your personal account.

It does the online payday loan lender or company no good at all to share your information with anyone else. You can rest assured that these providers are as anxious as you are to take every precaution in order to guarantee that you remain their satisfied client for the long haul.

Cash America International, Inc. announced this week that it's completed the purchase of substantially all of the assets of CashNetUSA.

The acquisition, which was announced in mid-July, establishes a significant Internet distribution channel for the payday loan company to provide short-term cash advances to its customers. This only paints a brighter picture for CashNetUSA, which emerged as a leader in the online cash advance business since its entry into the market in early 2004.

Today, the business serves customers in 27 states and will now complement Cash America's 758 payday advance lending locations.

"The integration of CashNetUSA into the Cash America platform to offer financial solutions to our customers provides us with another tool to reach this growing market for our products," said Daniel R. Feehan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cash America International, Inc. "This transaction also opens the longer term opportunity to explore ways to further expand our product offerings and market penetration through internet technology and its related electronic distribution advantages."

The initial purchase price was approximately $35 million in cash, with the opportunity for additional consideration to be paid based on future earnings performance. The CashNetUSA assets are substantially all of the assets of The Check Giant LLC, a privately owned quick payday loan company based in Chicago, Illinois.

While payday loans may be gone from nursing homes in Missouri, they still exist for other individuals around the state.

If everyone follows the lead of Geri Hughes, however, these fiscal resouces may become obsolete. Eight years ago, The Kansas City Star reports, Hughes suddenly found herself a single mom with four kids, loads of debt and big dreams.

She wanted a nice house for her children in Kansas City and she wanted to send her oldest daughter, Jeannette, to college. There were many enticements for quick-fix, high-interest no fax needed payday loans. However, Hughes, who works for the U.S. Treasury Department, steered clear. She’d seen how such loans entrapped acquaintances in cycles of debt.

Instead, in 1998 she enrolled in a pilot program offered in Kansas City and 12 other cities. The program’s intent was to help low-income and low-wealth families save, build assets and enter the financial mainstream, where they could share in the American dream. It was called Individual Development Accounts.

The concept was to offer an alternative to quick cash loans, while encouraging and rewarding monthly savings of working-poor families who were trying to buy their first home, pay for post-secondary education or start a small business.

Hughes participated in the initial program administered in Kansas City through the nonprofit Heart of America Family Services, now The Family Conservancy. As long as she saved $30 a month, the program matched her savings 2-to-1.

“You had to keep saving in order to get the match. You couldn’t withdraw any money until you reached your maximum account,” Hughes said.

So, how did she do?

(more…)

The practice of pay day loan lending is exploding inside and outside the United States.

To compete, many credit unions feel pressure to join the trend for ultra-short, ultra-high interest loans, said Pete Crear, chief executive of the World Council of Credit Unions.

Creaer was in the New Zealand last week to address the nation's credit unions, which have about 185,000 members. A lot of these companies are beginning to offer resources similar to same day payday loans are making payday loans, though hopefully at reduced rates.

In New Zealand, Credit Union Waikato admits making such loans, while others say they're contemplating the same. But such businesses are meant to protect the consumer and, therefore, are reluctant to join a practice which traps borrowers in a cycle of perpetual, high-cost debt.

In the country, there are three online payday loan lenders - Cantwait. com, Paydayloans.co.nz and Chequers Finance. They all have websites showing smart, hip, young people partying thanks to the use of cash advances. They make loans to anyone, anywhere in New Zealand through their phone, fax and web-based operations.

Chequers Finance, which lends for a minimum of four working weeks, charges $8.50 a week for a $100 loan, a real annual interest rate of 442%. The others follow suit.

Individuals - in any country - are always likely to look into cash loans online due to the ease of acquiring them. You never need to leave your home or fax in any documents to secure the money.

North Carolina is often prasied for its strict treatment of various kinds of payday loans; such resources are basically eliminated from the state. How come?

"You get in a cycle of debt where you can't get that repaid,” said David Elliott, the President and CEO of Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union.

Just a couple years ago, cash loan providers were found near major cities such as Raleigh and Charlotte. studies have shown that companies target areas with a military presence, as well. In 2005, Wayne County, which is home to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, had the state’s highest concentration of lenders.

A concern for those that backed this industry, however, was what troubled consumers would do without the chance to apply for faxless online payday loans. That's where credit unions come into play.

“If you're going to try to do away with something, you have to have a product out there to take its place,” Elliott said.

Fort Bragg Federal and Pentagon Federal Credit Union offer ARK loans, which stands for Asset Recovery Kit. It’s a no-interest personal loan of up to $500, and there’s a one-time $6 fee. If someone takes out more than one loan, they have to go to credit counseling.

"99% of the people who come see us, the primary reason for their problem is a lack of having a spending plan or a budget," said Tom Luzon, who works with Consumer Credit Counseling Services, which has partnered with the credit unions.

Luzon said no one has defaulted on a loan since the program started in February. It's good news for those that feared an increase in debt once payday advance loans were taken off the table.

The following is a recent, paraphrased letter The Clarion-Ledger. It was penned by Kevin MacDonald, of Jackson.

I've been in the pawnshop business for almost 17 years in Jackson and have two instant payday loan locations outside Jackson. I tried to open one at a location in Jackson that was zoned properly, but I was denied a use permit because of the "perceived image" of our industry, and that there were too many already.

A request to put a liquor store in with similar problems was granted.

Payday advance lenders and pawnshops are the least of the worries in Jackson. We provide a service to a segment of society - a larger segment than many think. All of us fringe lenders are regulated and audited by the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance and they use a model law as the guideline that was passed by the state Legislature in 1993. It provides strict penalties for those who don't abide by the law.

Our industries do not compete with banks. The average pawn loan in Mississippi is around $50 and a payday lender's average is around $200. There are only 10 pawnshops in the Jackson city limits and, yes, there are a lot of fast payday loan providers at this time.

There used to be over 30 pawnshops in Jackson and if officials will let the market take care of itself, the number of payday loan locations will adjust over time, just like any business.I would only hope the leaders of Jackson would do as former Sen. "Pud" Graham did in 1992 when we tried to get our pawn industry regulated.

He said he couldn't support the pawnshop bill because he didn't understand the industry. So, after the session was over, he went to pawnshops around the state and educated himself. He helped us pass our bill the next year.

I invite City Council members to visit our stores and see what we do. However, if they do succeed in closing all of us down, I guess I'll send my customers to them for a $50 loan when they need a little gas and groceries till they get paid. We provide a legitimate service to people who need small bad credit payday loans and are way less expensive than a bounced check!

So, payday loans are here to stay in South Carolina, huh? Sue Berkowitz will just see about that!

As the Director of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Center, Berkowitz is one of those people hoping to get new legislation introduced that will control payday cash advance lenders.

“Because we know that not every South Carolinian has a checking account. And those with checking accounts aren't taking out payday loans. So there's a defined group of people going back over and over again and getting themselves in a debt cycle they can't get out of," said Berkowitz.

Several groups against the payday industry met in Myrtle Beach Thursday night. They're proposing legislation to prohibit non-licensed lenders in South Carolina, while limiting the total number of payday loans one person can receive at a time. The governor, however, made it clear today that no such regulations are close to passing.

“I've talked with people that have got 6-7, one woman with 19 [instant cash loans] and it's like chasing your tail. You're borrowing from one to pay the other, to pay the other and that's got to stop,” said Berkowitz.

One of the reasons these resources appear to have a strong fiscal foothold in the state? The largest payday lending company in the country is in Spartanburg, Advance America. There are also 52 licensed payday businesses in Horry County and 58 in Florence County.

It doesn't appear as through the cash advance payday loan industry is going anywhere any time soon.

If it were up to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, his state would have regulations on plans on cheap payday loans of all kinds.

But that's why state goverments have a system of checks and balances.

In late June, the Regulation and Licensing Department ended the public comment period for proposed regulations designed to limit fees, end interest and give payback options to in-person and online, faxless payday loan consumers. After the public comment period ended, the regulations were revised and set to take effect on Aug. 31, but now sit idle due to a preliminary injunction granted by a state district judge.

The injunction, which bars the regulations from being enforced until further litigation, was granted on Aug. 30 in response to two separate lawsuits filed by Check ’n Go and Fast Bucks, national payday advance loan companies with stores in New Mexico.

Regulation and Licensing Superintendent Edward J. Lopez, Jr. says the department will respect the injunction.

"We strongly believe the Legislature, in the Small Loans Act, gave the Regulation and Licensing Department the authority to draft these regulations and implement them," he says.

Lopez says they will appeal the decision as soon as possible. For now, it appears as though individuals with a desire for fast cash loans can have that need met in New Mexico.