A good primer out of Britain.

They are unhappy with credit card merchant fees: 

NewsCenter 5′s David Brown reported that they are unregulated credit cards fees charged to store owners for every credit and debit card transaction. It’s a hidden fee that is eventually passed on to the consumer.

 For 35 years, Dennis Lane has owned a 7-Eleven on Adams Street in Quincy. Lane said credit card companies are taking a big portion from each credit card purchase and that has spurred him into action.

 Roughly 2 percent of the cost of each purchase is eaten up by the fee.

 An in-store petition is asking for customers’ help. It asks Congress to regulate the interchange fee — a fee that Lane said has skyrocketed in recent years. NewsCenter 5′s David Brown reported that they are unregulated credit cards fees charged to store owners for every credit and debit card transaction. It’s a hidden fee that is eventually passed on to the consumer.

Rather than ask the government for help, why not offer customers a cash discount?

This article says lobbyists are winning the battle of the Consumer Finance Protection Agency: 

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) initially planned to pass a financial regulatory reform bill through the lower chamber by the August recess. But unified financial-industry opposition to Obama’s proposal to set up a Consumer Financial Protection Agency caused Frank to delay his legislation until the fall.

When he proposed the agency in June, Obama said, “While I’m not spoiling for a fight, I’m ready for one.”

Industry groups note that they are winning this battle, especially with the White House focusing almost exclusively on recapturing momentum lost on healthcare reform.

From the story:

The Kentucky Coalition for Responsible Lending, representing 45 interest groups, is asking the state General Assembly to enact legislation that would cap interest rates on so-called payday loans at 36 percent. Kip Bomar of Community Action Kentucky says families need protection from the high price of predatory small loans that are so prevalent in Kentucky.

Kentucky legislators will have to be educated on the fact that 36% equals a ban.

Barney Frank promises regulatory reform by end of the year.   From the story:

“We invite the financial community to participate with us given what we believe is necessary and how we do it, but it’s going to happen one way or the other,” House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said in a speech at the National Press Club.

Credit card companies are raising their fees before the new law kicks in.

This article about a Texas “alternative” to payday lending reads like one of the drug commercials where the disclosures take up half the commercial:

Plus, you’re required to use the savings component. “10% of the loan will be put into a savings account and frozen until the loan is paid off,” Natasha tells us…. And you’re able to pay back in installments, so you’re the one that gets to cash in instead of Payday lenders.

This program won’t be offered at every Credit Union in the state, we’re told there are 50 that will release it in the 4th quarter.

See your physician before using.

An article about  faith-based groups and payday lending.

In an article that is mostly B.S. from the headline to the end, we found one sentence that we agree with:

Why do people take out such {payday} loans? The primary reasons are convenience and a lack of better alternatives.

From the LA times:

Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) are in a new smackdown this week over the idea of creating a federal Consumer Financial Protection Agency to oversee financial products and services.

The debate boils down to this: Can the government make people any more intelligent and responsible about borrowing money than, say, about the food they eat? Or would “protection” in this case mean banning altogether any products that agency bureaucrats decided weren’t fit for the lowest common denominator of potential users?