There was recently an article written in The Sun News, a South Carolina paper, concerning the option of a payday loan.  The article was written by Craig Conwell and has some very valid and interesting points that I wanted to briefly summarize.  

 Craig is a 42-year-old man who successfully graduated from college and had numerous small businesses.  He has been professionally successful, but has also had some very hard times.  He says, "...there have been times when I did not know if I would make it.  And I would not have made it without the sole institution that was willing to work with me on small loans over a short period of time, and that is the payday lending industry."

Craig is like almost everyone in our great nation.  He has ups and downs.  He pointed out that while he was having financial struggles, banks and other lending companies weren't interested in helping him with immediate financial needs.  They of course would give a loan for a car or house that would take years  (and plenty of interest) to pay back, but small short-term loans for immediate needs were not something they were interested in.

There are some in South Carolina who think that they should adopt the same legislation that Georgia and North Carolina passed.  However, the only thing that happened in those states was that payday lending was banned entirely.  A study later showed that consumers in those states had more bankruptcies and credit problems because of it.  

The major issue is-what will take the place of payday loans if they are done away with?  In the previously mentioned states, there was no help for those who needed short term loans.  It can be very hard to find an affordable alternative.  

Payday loans are a viable and reliable option.  In these hard economic times, it seems ridiculous to take away financial options.  People need more options, not less.