PaydayLending

Google's ex-CIO has moved from the world of Web searches to the world of high-interest, short-term lending. He says ZestCash.com offers an innovative way to help the poorest borrowers avoid financial emergencies. But is this just a slick veneer putting a shine on the classic payday lending business?

More people in Southeast don't have bank accounts than in any other part of the country. Mississippi leads the country with more than 16% of households using cash-and-carry for all their transactions. That's a situation that can keep families from climbing the ladder of success.

Personal finance can be something like a horror movie. In this case, the slasher is an online payday lending service. For anyone thinking of signing up and taking out a loan, the Better Business Bureau has just released a press release, warning anyone thinking of using an online payday lending...

In an op-ed piece (subscription required) in the Wall Street Journal, Virginia governor Tim Kaine explains a new loan program being offered to state employees: the Virginia State Employee Loan Program, "a unique partnership between the Virginia State Employee Assistance Fund and the Virginia Credit...

Going to a payday lender can be a good financial decision. That is, if your Attorney General threatens to sue your payday lender, and they settle up, and then you receive your money back. New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo has just announced a $5.2 million settlement with two companies...

The changes are subtle, but has anyone noticed? It's getting a little harder to distinguish banks from payday lending establishments.There are at least three major banks that offer cash advances to their customers, in the way that the often-criticized payday lending stores do. I just find it...

Three years ago more than 250 payday lenders were doing business in Arkansas. As of this week, all are out of business.Arkansas represented a unique opportunity for opponents of payday lending. The state constitution includes a cap on interest rates that state officials and advocates used to drive...

It's not an honor I'm proud of, but I'm pretty sure that out of the many writers who contribute to WalletPop, payday loans is my beat. At least, I wrote about them quite a bit a year ago during a period in which I found myself short of cash and, yes, frequenting payday loan stores. (If you're...

Arthur Delaney reports that a number of bloggers have been pitching the virtues of www.paydayloansmania.com, an online provider of high-interest payday loans for people who are really, really, really desperate for cash. At PaydayLoansMania.com, "Nobody will ask you for what purposes you need your...

Some time ago, a woman wrote a letter to The New York Times, explaining how her life had been pretty much ruined by a loan shark.She had borrowed $50 when her daughter was sick and had to pay three consecutive monthly payments of $22. It began a cycle where she wound up broke and then foolishly...