An economy suffering from a deep recession and new payday lending regulations set to take effect next year has prompted the Cleveland, Tenn.-based company to turn in the payday loan business licenses for 12 stores, the company said last week.

In exchange, those stores will apply for supervised lending licenses, which would allow Check Into Cash to make longer-term consumer loans, based on a different underwriting criteria, and for unlimited amounts of money.

Ohio taxpayers should be wary when politicians begin picking winners and losers in any marketplace. Their new target in Ohio and in other states is the payday lender industry, even though private sector payday loans are a legitimate business with tens of thousands of employees across the country that help provide a proportionate remedy to meet the short-term financial needs of millions of working customers.

The payday lending industry has many supporters at think tanks and universities.  Scholars who crunch numbers and actually know the facts understand payday loans are a viable and important alternative to bounced check fees, overdraft protection, and other costly services.

The payday lending industry has long advocated consumer choice and competition.