Arizona consumers deserve credit choices.
State Sen. Linda Gray's bill to limit payday loan
interest rates to 36 percent would leave no
realistic alternatives for reasonable, hard-working
people who may not have savings or access to other
credit options.
Pretend for a moment that you make a decent salary,
enough to pay bills, but haven't accumulated much in
the way of savings or assets. Your car breaks down.
You need $300 to fix it so you can get to work.
You're not comfortable borrowing from friends or
family. You don't want to max out your credit card,
wind up paying a slew of costly check-bouncing fees
or pawn personal items. What do you do?
The payday advance industry exists because we fill a
vacuum that banks created when they stopped offering
low-dollar, short-term loans.
Although 100 percent of payday advance customers
hold a checking account at a bank or credit union,
they turn to payday lenders for their short-term
credit needs. Traditional lenders simply do not meet
the demand.
Let's give Arizona consumers access to a variety of
regulated credit options, and trust them to make
financial decisions based on what's best for them
and their families.
Jeff Albin, Phoenix
The writer is a regional manager (northern
Arizona) at Quik Cash.
Source: www.azcentral.com
|