We’ve been shouting this from the rooftops, but it’s always nice when someone else says it. In a story that ran yesterday, Wells Fargo spokesman Gabriel Boehmer discusses the nature of lines of credit offered to payday lenders.

Boehmer said Wells Fargo does “provide credit to a variety of responsible financial services industry companies,” including some payday lenders.

The bank is “really selective” in such lending, and its “total commitments to these customers represent a small percentage of Wells Fargo’s commercial lending portfolio,” Boehmer said. “Our philosophy is that every responsible business that complies with the law has equal access to consideration for credit at Wells Fargo.”

Boehmer stressed that payday lenders and check cashers that seek loans from Wells Fargo receive “an additional level of scrutiny,” including on-site visits to review their compliance with laws and regulations and their credit health. The due diligence occurs, he said, “because these companies are so highly regulated.”

Kinda surprised to see a story run with a customer’s payday advance experience that isn’t criticizing the product. It’s stories like these that policymakers should pay attention to when considering placing restrictions on a well-regulated product that 19 million households use annually.

Alberto Garcia, a restaurant worker from Hayward, said he had never taken out a payday loan but would “if I needed the money.” Garcia was interviewed after leaving a California Check Cashing store on the corner of Kearny and Geary streets. He said he had just purchased a money order and could imagine using a payday loan to get needed cash: “I would consider the bank, but it would be much easier to go here.”

Others may see no place else to turn. Robert Mitchell, who had just completed a Western Union transaction in a Money Mart store on Market Street, said he might take out a payday loan if he faced a deadline to pay rent or a car note, or needed money for a special occasion: “I’m willing to bite the bullet if I have to and pay a little something for that.”

Quote of the day comes from Greg Larsen, a spokesman for the California Financial Service Providers Association, a trade group of check-cashers and payday lenders. When interviewed by SF Public Press, Larsen said using an APR was an “apples to oranges” measure of the cost of a payday loan.

“People don’t use the product for 52 consecutive weeks,” he said.

Industry spokesman Larsen said consumers, when allowed a choice among a range of financial options, “will always find the credit that is the most cost effective.”

From a coalition out in Missouri that is aiming to protecting access to safe and affordable lending options in the state:

“Missourians are being asked to sign a petition for a ballot initiative that would cap lending rates. While the initiative is being reported as an effort to protect consumers from payday loans , it would actually restrict access to all small loans, including beneficial traditional consumer installment loans . These traditional loans help individuals and families get access to safe and transparent credit in a way that enables them to preserve their financial security,” said Tom Hudgins, CEO and Chairman of Stand Up Missouri. “These traditional loans also support small businesses by providing borrowers with the funds they need to purchase the businesses’ products and services. Stand Up Missouri is working to educate Missourians on the facts so they can make informed decisions and protect their best interests as the ballot petition travels throughout the state.”