Payday loans, and advances on pay have been around since people paid other people to work for them. The need for small short terms loans has always attracted lenders willing to accomodate. When banks can’t or won’t accomadate a market need, others will step in. Loan sharks ran very profitable, although illegal, businesses. Pawn shops were there to provide temporary loans in exchange for property. Today there are paycheck stores in every poor area of our cities.

Payday loans are designed to help out a person who finds themself temporarily short of funds. They are not designed for long term financial committments like auto loans. Typically a payday loan will be less than $1500 and more likely be in the $200 to $300 range. They are short term loans, usually lasting the time between paychecks or 7 to 14 days.

If an unexpected bill hits before payday, people with good credit simply put it on their credit card. If you don’t have credit, or you have bad credit, and you don’t have the cash, how is that bill paid? If it wasn’t for payday loans, that bill wouldn’t be paid. If the loans are providing a valuable service, why then do some people call them a rip off?

The answer of course is the interest rates charged. Depending on state regulations, the interest on a 7 day loan can be as high as 500% when annualized. A $100 seven day loan can cost the borrower $21 in interest. Consumer advocate groups call these rates outrageous and contend that the payday loans are predatory and target the poor.

Payday loan companies do target poor areas. In fact over 80% of their stores are located in areas designated as distressed or poor. Banks on the other hand, stay away from those areas with only 34% of their total facilities serving poor areas. When you are the only game in town, as the payday loan people are, you can pretty much charge what the market will bear.

Conventional banks are not competing for this lucrative lending market, yet. The loan amounts are too small and the turn around is too short. Also payday loan companies have made applying and approval exceptionally easy compared to a bank application and approval process. With a payday loan the applicant simply has to verify his ID, have a checking account, and have proof of employment. Applications are usually approved same day and the funds are wired to the applicant’s bank the next day.

The interest rates are outrageous. However, payday loan customers see the service as a real value. Where else can a person with no credit or bad credit get a loan to pay for an immediate need? Payday loans are simply servicing a financial market that conventional banks and loan companies believe is not profitable, otherwise there would be Bank of Americas next to every bodega in the poor areas of our cities.

Our economy is making payday loans even more popular and this time with a whole new group of people. With the housing meltdown and unemployment near 10%, people who formerly could rely on their credit card to fill the gap now find themselves maxed out or without credit at all. The loan companies realize this and are reaching out to this new market via the internet. Online loans work the same way as the shop loans only they are more convenient to apply for. Needless to say it’s cheaper for the loan companies to do business online than in a brick and mortar store.

If you find yourself contemplating using a payday loan service, make sure the company is licensed to do business in your state. Also make sure you understand the interest rate and the consequences of not paying off the loan on time.