The Community Financial Services Association of America has just issued a press release slamming the recent Reuters story which blamed the mortgage crisis on payday lenders.  The Reuters article is purely anecdotal and those anecdotes come from known payday lending critics. The reporter did not call CFSA or anyone from within the industry for a comment.  Here is what D. Lynn DeVault, CFSA President, said in the release:

“While it’s become fashionable to blame payday lenders for all of society’s ills, it is preposterous and irresponsible to blame a $300 loan for the nation’s mortgage crisis.”

There are plenty of good, fact-based explanations of why this nation is facing a tough economic road ahead.  Here is an excellent one from the NewsHour on PBS that uses an interesting technique to explain the mortgage crisis.  But no one (not even the Center for Responsible Lending–before this Reuters story that is) has asserted that payday loans have anything to do with the mortgage meltdown.

Last night on PBS, Frontline re-ran a program called: Secret History of the Credit Card. The show highlighted some facts about credit cards that make the criticisms about payday lending look like child’s play. 

What Payday Pundit found particularly interesting is that by paying only the minimum balance every month, it could take you 35 years to pay it off in full!

Also of note was the fine print found on all of the credit card agreements. The fine print is in stark contrast to the fees displayed on posters in large type in all CFSA member company payday lending stores. 

For consumers, Frontline lists ”8 Important Things a Credit Card User Should Know.”

It’s ironic that so-called consumer activists would advocate that credit card cash advances are a better option than payday loans.