North Carolina’s Attorney General, Roy Cooper, referred to payday loans as scams during the keynote address of Military Saves Week. He said being young and having a steady paycheck makes members of the military perfect targets for all sorts of scammers.
While Cooper certainly means well in helping families to manage their finances, he is way off in grouping payday loans with fake princes in Nigeria. Payday loans are no scam to try and con people out of money. They are short term loans that are not offered by anyone else.
Lots of people have need for short-term credit options, and many banks and credit unions do not offer them. Payday loans fill a niche in the economy that no one else will. This is not done to be a public nuisance or to scam anyone.
Sending fake lottery winning checks to people is a scam. That provides no service to anyone and is a ploy to steal money. Payday loans charge for a service they provide people. Like any commodity, payday loans can be used irresponsibly.
But the truth is a few bad borrowers shouldn’t spoil it for the good ones. Military folks are no more targeted by payday lenders than anyone else. It is no longer legal to lend to military people anymore anyway. But is anyone getting mad that Ferrari is targeting only rich people?
Payday loans don’t appeal to the rich because they have no need for quick cash generally. Those who are well off don’t need the product, so of course they won’t buy it. Payday lenders don’t target anybody; rather, they offer a product that only people in financial difficulty would ever really need.
Check City unilaterally opposes scams of any kind. Payday loans are not a scam- they are a financial service that other lenders simply don’t offer.
