“Service at a Value”
February 22, 2009 | Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ohio, customers, employees, industry, media coverage, personal finance | Comments (2)Ted Saunders, the CEO of Checksmart, an Ohio-based payday lender, has a great op-ed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer today:
The simple fact, one that your article failed to accurately note, is that borrowers under the Mortgage Loan Act are paying far less for their loans than they were under the former payday loan laws. When a borrower takes a check or money order as proceeds of a loan, the borrower may (and many do) take that instrument to his or her bank and deposit it free of charge. For the borrowers who deposit or cash their checks at their own bank, their real cost for a two-week $400 loan is under $30, which is less than the $60 paid by them under the former payday loan law and less, according to the FDIC, than the cost of an overdraft at an FDIC bank.
The Plain Dealer’s criticism of former payday lenders turning to other legislative enactments for alternative business models is misguided because it fails to recognize the significant cost savings benefitting consumers and because the decision to turn to these alternatives came directly from the Ohio Legislature. Apparently, in The Plain Dealer’s eyes, only banks should be permitted to extend credit to Ohioans, regardless of their higher fees.
The editorial writers at the Cleveland Plain Dealer are reflexively hostile to business. It’s great to see a payday lending CEO taking them to task.
Comments»
Outstanding article! This should be reprinted in the rest of newspapers in the State of Ohio, specifically the Toledo Blade.
The media is biased and will remain so. All we can do is take every opportunity to get our message out in a logical, factual manner on a consistent basis.
We simply cannot give up!
Each time a payday loan fan has an opportunity to defend our industry we must do it. Rants and whining will not do!
The DallasNews.com recently ran, “High Cost Lenders Profit From Desperate Times.” Nick Sparagi and I both took the time to write brief, factual comments.
Each of us must have the facts about our industry and invest a few minutes to communicate them to anyone who will listen.
JerJer