Payday Pundit

So says John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute who weighs in on the payday lending fight in Ohio in a guest editorial in the Lima, Ohio newpaper. 

More from the piece:

        Evidence is already mounting from other states that caps on payday loans reduce choices for consumers and leave them financially worse off than before. And, ironically, the main beneficiaries of laws pounding on payday lenders have been big banks and credit unions making millions from the overdraft fees that frequently serve the same purpose as a small loan for unexpected circumstances.

Mr. Berlau has it exactly right.  Payday loan customers are frequently trying to avoid bounced check fees which if calculated as a loan would have three or four times the interest rate of a payday advance.