Some radicals in the Palmetto State are unhappy they were unable to ban payday lending.   Listen you ninnies,  the art of politics is compromise.

The Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee  supports the Consumer Financial Services Protection Agency proposal.   From the Wall Street Journal:

“The fear that this will somehow be an out-of-control entity ravaging the private sector is unsupported by anything in American history,” House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., …

But there certainly are negative consequences of over-regulation short of “ravaging”.

From the Canadian Star-Phoenix newspaper:

Saskatchewan Federation of Labour president Larry Hubich accused the CLAC of “anti-democratic practices” such as conducting ratification votes before a wage schedule is negotiated, permitting management to take part in union meetings and enticing employees with interest-free payday loans.

Credit card rewards programs are in trouble, now free checking could end.  From the American Banker:

Resistance among regulators and consumers has intensified against the revenue model that for years has propped up free-checking: The charges levied against the relatively small share of customers who pay for account overdrafts and nonsufficient funds. As scrutiny increases over how free checking works, the business model that underlies what has become an industry standard may have to evolve.

Interesting guest column in the New York Times regarding the recently passed credit card bill of rights:

To be sure, the new law will require some sacrifices. Our data indicate that rewards programs, for example, may become less generous or less common. But is this necessarily a bad thing? While you may be reluctant to sacrifice your airline miles, rewards programs are anything but free for the nation as a whole. Debt-laden and often low-income borrowers tend to pay high fees to subsidize the vacations of those who manage to pay on time.

Credit union cards demonstrate that punishing fees are not an essential ingredient of profitable lending. This should help assuage fears that the credit card act will bring disaster for credit cards. Rather, it should nudge them toward the gentler credit union model that many Americans already enjoy.

But banks are not credit unions; they pay taxes for one thing.   But the Payday Pundit is not a credit card expert so you can decide for yourself whether these authors have a point.

From a column in Chicago Business.com about Illinois reform legislation that died:

Now, I’m not without sympathy for payday lenders. I understand why some, as a matter of libertarian principle, oppose any usury limits. The lenders are entitled to make a buck, and bills like Ms. Hamos’ surely would cut off some poor folks from access to credit.

But not everyone deserves access to credit all the time. Subprime lending to those with subprime finances arguably is the main reason why the nation is caught in the worst downturn since the Depression. If the industry has to clobber many low-income families with killer rates to make up for other borrowers who default, maybe the industry ought to tighten its lending standards.

Has this guy done his research? The industry doesn’t “clobber low-income families.”  Payday lending customers are middle class.   And the industry has low default rates, much lower than most banks and credit unions.

Now that I trashed editorial writers (below), the Payday Pundit will take on another, but in a more civil tone.  The Los Angeles Times, which seems to understand that there is a place for payday loans in the credit market, calls for keeping the loan limits at $300. I think that a legislative proposal to raise the limit to $500 makes sense.   Times are tough, consumers need larger loans.   $500 is not a large amount of credit for an average income earner.

That would describe most editorial writers.  From the Virginia Daily Press:

The decrease in number of stores is good news, said Jay Speer, executive director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center. But there’s also some bad news, which is that some of the lenders have shifted to car-title lending.

We get it.  Laying people office, empty storefronts, less taxes paid to state coffers is “good news.”

Larry Meyers schools “Progress Ilinois”on the numbers.

And don’t forget to check out Larry’s book, “Teacher of the Year.”

That’s the name of a British payday loan company.   This is Money site discusses how the company is working to clean up the industry’s reputation.