October 1 2011 through September 30, 2012, 2.34 million payday loans transpired in Missouri. Total complaints? 135. That’s correct! 135 complaints were received by the Missouri Division of Finance out of 2,340,000 payday loans. And, of the 135 complaints received, 54 were made against LICENSED Missouri payday loan lenders! 81 were against unlicensed Internet payday loan lenders.
Can you guess how many “renewals” were issued to Missouri payday loan consumers? 1.5! Yes, in spite of all the bull shit the media and the consumer advocates claim, the REAL – DOCUMENTED DATA, as reported by Richard Weaver, Commissioner of Finance for Missouri, reveals the truth!
The average loan was $306.12, the average interest rate was 454.62% and the average fee for a 14 day payday loan was $53.38. Defaults? 5.23%.
Want the facts? Or, you’re willing to allow the competition to continue to spread the lies? Here is the Missouri Report.
What’s all this mean? Our industry does a PATHETIC job of getting the truth out. We simply are not as well organized as the competition. It’s rare to hear testimonials from the real consumers who use our products to extricate themselves from a short-lived financial challenge. (Of course, who in their right mind wants to come forward and publicly exclaim they use and LOVE payday loans? ) Instead, we’re barraged on a daily basis by stories of abuse; the single mom with multiple children trapped in a never ending cycle of debt.
At the risk of offending a few of you, I will point out a few successes. The Borrow Smart Team does a good job as well as the Texas CAB Association. And FISCA, OLA, CFSA and others do devote a portion of member dues to protecting consumers, short-circuiting negative legislation and providing industry resources. Of course, everyone, including ME :o) has an agenda. Just follow the money…
Bottom line? I don’t embrace data bases but there are a multitude of states having implemented data bases that reveal a much different interpretation of payday loan consumer behavior than reported by our opponents. We ALL need to spread the word at every opportunity!
