Payday loans may not just be gaining popularity in America. An article on The Herald Sun recently discussed their effects in Australia, as well. The author also gave his take on the business of cash advances. It’s paraphrased below:

Last week I wrote about a micro-lending outfit called Amazing Loans. It is raising capital on the Australian Stock Exchange to take advantage of a loophole in Victoria and Queensland allowing it to charge huge interest rates and fees on payday loans.

The people who stand to lose from payday loans lenders are those who can least afford it. While lending has become a multi-billion dollar industry in the US, there are fears that Australia’s sinking savings rate may lead us down the same path.

The only practical solution is for the Victorian and Queensland governments to outlaw this practice. This will kneecap the loan sharks and protect vulnerable consumers. So one might think, that is.

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As MEM Consumer Finance, Ltd., continues to grow, one of its brands, My Payday Loan has appointed Alister Comrie as its professional marketing consultant. His role will be developing an ongoing and comprehensive marketing strategy for My Payday Loan, including looking away from the traditional online advertising of the cash advance market.

“The online market has a limited number of users and My Payday Loan has a significant share of the market space for payday loans. There are many people out there who would benefit from a financial product which helps remedy short term needs who simply do not know the alternative exists,” Comrie said. “These people are having to pay additional charges on unauthorised overdrafts and credit card fees. A payday loan allows them to budget for outgoings the following month rather than struggle to find the cash for their immediate needs.”

My Payday Loan has made technological breakthroughs in recent weeks, and hopes to grow its business even more quickly with this hiring. Alister’s development experience over the past 15 years includes clients such as Boeing, Motorola, HSBC and Sony. He will be working on a variety of marketing projects for My Payday Loan and MEM Consumer Finance, Ltd., creating additional consumer awareness.

“People need to be aware that short term loans do not come only in the form of check cashing or the sub-prime lending market. Payday loans provide a lifestyle cash option for the prime and near-prime consumer to allow them to manage their finances on a monthly basis,” he said. “This is an extremely exciting market development and one that we can see delivering real benefits to the majority of the UK’s population.”

After two years of rigorous software development, the implementation of a new payday loan approval system means customers are finding it quicker and easier than ever before to apply for these cash advances. The new system provides much of the assistance normally required from loan advisors and allows the My Payday Loan (UK) team to approve loans quickly and reliably time after time.

“One of the important things as a business is to give consistency of service and product to all our customers. Before the implementation of our new system, approving payday loans was a largely manual basis and could vary from person to person,” said Kirsty Auchincloss, COO of MEM Consumer Finance, Ltd., My Payday Loan’s parent company. “Although all our advisors are comprehensively trained, different people sometimes see things in different ways. With our new system, customers will get a homogenous service across the board and we can manage our business more easily.”

The company emphasizes that having such an efficient system does not mean it will lose its strong consumer relationships. If anything, it means that their customer services team can spend more time helping customers and less time focusing on red tape, according to a press release. The new payday loan approval structure allows short term cash advances to be turned around quicker and that My Payday Loan can concentrate on the needs of its valued customers.

With this development, applying for a payday loan could not be easier, if you decide that it’s right for your needs. American companies are always striving to improve their faxless payday loan applications and approval technology as well, so don’t feel as if you will be left behind here in the States.

Four leading payday loan brands in the U.K. — Month End Money, PayDay UK, MyPayDay Loan and Payday Store — are being incorporated under a single umbrella of MEM Consumer Finance Ltd., according to a press release.

“The payday lending industry in the UK has grown immensely since we opened for business in 2003. As one of the leading providers of short term finance we feel the time is right to look at new expansion opportunities," Iain McKenzie, CEO of MEM Capital, said. "We have streamlined these brands under one, focused company, and will have the same teams and practices in place so the transition will definitely be a smooth one and it will make no difference at all to our existing customers."

The consolidated business will be under the control of MEM Capital’s Chief Operating Officer, Kirsty Auchincloss, who helped build the existing payday loan portfolio for the company. She was there when the tiny payday advance operation began in August 2003 and has been instrumental in its growth to present size: 12 full time staff members, an extensive external support network and hundreds of thousands of pounds a month.

“Teamwork has always been the essence of MEM. At first, it was just Iain and I working on new business sales, returning customers and all payments which meant we had to be particularly efficient at sharing the load," Auchincloss said. "Now we have a dedicated new business team for people applying for a [faxless payday loan] for the first time."

The company touts its customer service team for its regular repeat business and cites its production group for handling the vast number of repayment options.

As with U.S. payday loan companies, MEM Consumer Finance’s brands offer loans between £80 and £1,000 to consumers in advance of their next payday. Despite ongoing criticism from lawmakers, payday loans continue to be popular among people looking to bridge unexpected financial shortfalls. Whether you are in the U.S. or U.K., it's always important to find the best payday loan arrangement for your situation, if you go this route at all.

LitFunding announced that it has signed a Merger and Acquisition Agreement to acquire Easy Money Express, Inc. Morton Reed, LitFunding's CEO, was excited about the venture:

"The acquisition of Easy Money affords LitFunding with a highly profitable opportunity to leverage our capital at high yields with relative safety," he said.

Easy Money Express is an independent Internet and call center payday advance company. It will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of LitFunding, developing a deferred deposit, consumer loan business that will specialize in providing short-term cash advances or payday loans.

Easy Money has developed an economical call center and Internet-based business model that permits applications to be submitted via the Web. Applications are processed almost instantly through highly automated software and the approved loans are directly deposited into the consumer's account, debited automatically the next payday. This allows the cash advance loan company to reach millions of customers, without the high cost of traditional "brick-and-mortar" retail locations.

The terms of the merger agreement will allow Easy Money Express to become a separate, publicly traded entity, under certain terms. In such an event, LitFunding and its shareholders will retain 15% of the newly issued shares of Easy Money Express. The deal should be finalized March 31, 2006.