Why don’t we get this kind of praise?
October 6, 2009 | California, alternatives, industry | Comments (1)The San Mateo Daily Journal loves this micro-lender:
Progreso asks for three things — proof of identity, residence and income — to gauge credit worthiness. Rather than looking at property to secure the loan, Progreso relies on what Gutierrez calls “moral collateral.”
Aside from its repayment scoring model, Progreso requires borrowers to make in-person contact to repay the money for the life of the loan. The average borrower could have 15 to 60 unique visits — each of which Gutierrez said helps keep their default rate low. The average customers pays no more than $100 in interest for a typical eight-month loan, according to Gutierrez.
The media double standard is infuriating.
Business is golden
September 3, 2009 | California, alternatives, industry | Comments (0)At pawn shops in California. From the story:
Though we offer free, insured FedEx shipping to all customers and a method for seeing and approving their payment amount in advance,” said GoldFellow founder and president Michael H. Gusky, “there’s still a segment of the population that prefers to conduct business in a retail, walk-in environment. Customers at our store enjoy watching the process as their items are tested for precious metal content, graded and weighed. Everything is done right there in front of them.”
Gold prices have been at historic highs and consumers, even those not strapped for cash, have been taking advantage of the high prices and cashing in unwanted, broken and out-of-style gold jewelry.
“GoldFellow customers tend to be more educated consumers,” said Gusky. “They want a safe, discreet selling experience, have done their homework and expect a good price. They will have the same GoldFellow experience whether they visit our store, attend a GoldFellow gold party or via our website business.”
There is no evidence of this!
August 5, 2009 | California, customers, industry | Comments (2)From a story out of California:
As the economy has worsened, the profits of payday lenders have skyrocketed…
Does the media even care about the truth?
Duh!
July 30, 2009 | California, alternatives, industry | Comments (0)The San Francisco media has discovered pawn shops. I guess even the wine and brie crowd needs cash.
Let’s see the fine print
July 20, 2009 | California, alternatives, industry | Comments (0)From the SacBee:
Tuesday
11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. – The Golden 1 Credit Union presents a free workshop called “Alternatives to Payday Lending” at 1108 O St., Sacramento. To register, or for more information, call (916) 732-2900 or visit www.golden1.com.
You like comments?
July 8, 2009 | California | Comments (0)PDLindustryblog rounded up some readers comments from a recent story out of California.
Same rhetoric, different paper
July 7, 2009 | California, Sacramento Bee, industry, regulation | Comments (0)Today’s SacBee (CA) editorial calls for a rate cap on payday loans. No new arguments here:
Nationally, Congress in 2007 passed a 36 percent rate cap on payday loans for military families. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have passed similar interest rate caps for all their residents.
The military is relying on charity through its relief societies. DC residents are using Internet lenders or driving to Virginia for loans. Maybe the state of California can get into the small business. It’s not like they have any financial problems.
California IOUs create mess
July 6, 2009 | California, industry | Comments (0)This story says it’s not clear if payday lenders will cash them. Well it’s up to the holder of an IOU to deposit it in a bank and then present a check to a payday lender. In any case, confusion reigns.
California IOUs
July 1, 2009 | California, customers, industry | Comments (1)We’re hearing from some payday lenders that they will honor the state of California’s IOUs as proof of income.
We politely disagree
June 24, 2009 | California, customers, industry | Comments (0)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.
