The Pay Day Loan Blog

Is all that spending on SEO wasted?

The Search Engine Journal recently reported that the number one spot on Google and Yahoo for "payday loans" searches belongs to.... the Federal Trade Commission!  I ran a search this morning, and the FTC is still at the top.  The page enjoying the top rank is: Payday Loans = Costly Cash.

The use of zoning to keep payday lenders out of an area

If you do a google news search on "payday loan", there are a LOT of articles on local municipalities imposing (or trying to impose) zoning restrictions on payday lenders.  Chattanooga, San Francisco, Tempe , Las Vegas... sounds like the Route 66 song.  An interesting take on this approach to limiting payday lenders comes from the Coyote Blog:

In a free society, both I and those activists [attempting to zone PDL stores] are free to convince people to not use these services, but its wrong to artificially limit people's choices out of some elitist sense that we can make decisions for other people better than they can for themselves .

Also, when these brick 'n mortars are shut down, many of the affected consumers have another choice--Internet payday lenders.  Often, however, Internet PDL's charge a higher rate than brick 'n mortar stores.  So please explain,  how does this protect the consumer?

Wal-Mart's Bank Plans

This comes via the PaymentsNews blog --will Wal-Mart's plan to become a bank be foiled by Congress? 

As we have discussed in earlier posts, one of the biggest threats to payday lenders, check cashers, money transmitters and other financial services providers  is competition from Wal-Mart.   Several months ago, Wal-Mart applied for a Utah Industrial Bank license.  The license application is pending, and has sparked intense debate and interest.  According to an article in today's Salt Lake City Tribune, the FDIC received over 1,100 letters commenting on Wal-Mart's application (see Wal-Mart plan could shake up bank industry).  The article discusses Congressional action that could foil Wal-Mart's plan:

Already there are rumblings in Congress that could make any Utah-based Wal-Mart Bank a short-lived financial institution. Last month, Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa) introduced legislation that would block commercial firms such as Wal-Mart from owning industrial banks and force those who already own them to get rid of their banks within five years.

The PaymentsNews blog links to Leach's bill.  Stay tuned...

Quick links - Oct. 7, 2005

• The Arizona Republic: Just Until Payday...

• Winston-Salem Journal: Good Riddance (about payday lenders leaving North Carolina)

• Las Cruces Sun News:  Big Crowd Debates Payday Loans (about hearings held by NM's Attorney General in her quest to stop payday lending in NM -- sounds like there are more pro-payday loan folks than she bargained for!)

California Privacy Law Narrowed

Yesterday, a Federal District Court Judge in California, ruled that California's strict privacy laws are partially preempted by Federal Laws, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  In American Bankers Association et al v. Lockyer, the Court ruled that  California's Financial Information Privacy Act cannot require financial institutions to allow customers to "opt out" of the sharing of certain customer  information between affiliates (including the sharing of customer information such as credit data).   In particular, affiliates can share information governed by FCRA (including information concerning a "customer's credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living").

Some reference materials:

Court Order in American Bankers Association v Lockyer

San Jose Mercury News Article:  State's Bank Consumer Financial Privacy Law Hit (reg req'd)