Unbelievable
January 30, 2009 | Uncategorized | Comments (1)Not a single payday lending article worth discussing this morning. A rare day. That will not stop the Payday Pundit from sharing his wisdom today, just slow him down a bit.
Cutting up cards
January 29, 2009 | alternatives, industry, personal finance | Comments (0)We’re not sure this protest reported by the Consumerist will be effective, but we liked the picture.
Bad, bad sign
January 29, 2009 | personal finance | Comments (0)More Starbucks closing. It actually makes sense for consumers to cut back on $4 coffees. On the other hand, it’s a sign of declining prosperity for sure.
Town name of the month: Pahrump
January 29, 2009 | Nevada, industry, local issues, states | Comments (2)From the Pahrump (NV) Valley Times:
Cash AdvantEdge was denied a conditional use permit and a waiver from a minimum separation of 1,500 feet from other check-cashing payday loan businesses by Nye County commissioners last week.
Attorney Liz Sorokac appealed a denial of the request in front of the Pahrump Regional Planning commission Oct. 15.
Cash AdvantEdge would have been located in a 125-square-foot kiosk inside Rent-A-Center next door to Super Pawn.
But commissioners gave Sorokac strong assurances the county commission will consider changing the minimum distance requirement in the county code.
Someone should use the name of that town in a country music song.
Correction: Spelling of town corrected.
Sometimes the brain doesn’t work
January 29, 2009 | alternatives, industry | Comments (0)At first glance, we read this headline, “Denish, King Targeting Tax Refund Loans” as “Danish King targeting tax refund loans.” The Pundit, thought, “Doesn’t the King have something better to do?”
Anyway, the Pundit needs more coffee.
“Debt isn’t bad, bad debt is”
January 29, 2009 | personal finance | Comments (0)This is a very powerful piece by British money expert about personal debt, what to take on, what to pay off, how to think about borrowing.
One interesting tip that surprised the Payday Pundit is to avoid “debt consolidation” companies, go to a nonprofit instead.
Stupid headline of the month
January 29, 2009 | Maine, industry, local issues, media coverage | Comments (0)From the Bangor (Maine) Daily News: “Payday loans often plunge borrowers deeper into debt.”
The stupidity of this headline should be obvious. ALL loans put ALL borrowers deeper into debt. They are “loans.” Loans are debt.
The rest of article is even more of a waste of time.
And now, a Credit Union bailout
January 28, 2009 | alternatives, industry, personal finance | Comments (0)From Thursday’s Washington Post:
The government also will guarantee billions of dollars in previously uninsured deposits in a move that aims to forestall a crisis of confidence in a system once considered unshakable due to its conservative business practices.
The National Credit Union Administration, which regulates the industry, said it was acting to protect the nearly 90 million Americans who use a retail credit union. Most of those institutions have deep financial ties with the company that is getting the bailout, U.S. Central Corporate Federal Credit Union.
The federal aid comes from assessments on the industry, not from taxpayers.
This latest rescue has a familiar plot. U.S. Central invested in mortgage-related securities advertised as safe and lucrative. They were not, and U.S. Central is running out of money, endangering the financial health of many of the nation’s 8,400 credit unions, even as demand for their loans has reached record heights.
An industry with “conservative business practices” has “deep financial ties” to a company that doesn’t. That would seem to be a contradiction.
NSF Fees Pay the Bills But Make Customers Bolt
January 28, 2009 | alternatives, industry | Comments (0)According to the article in U.S. Banker,
It’s an understatement to say that banks had a rough go of it in 2008; consumers too. And NSF fee income may be rising as consumers struggle to pay their bills, but institutions counting on this rising revenue stream to counterbalance other declines should be on the lookout for both consumer and regulatory blowback.
…Bankers need to hold onto and grow deposits, but angst about overdraft is a leading cause of customer attrition. So as NSF charges multiply, flight risk increases.
…”People are becoming quite sensitive to the fees that they are paying,” Rubin says. “Banks may try to recoup some of their losses by fee revenue, the double-edged sword is that consumers are paying more attention.”
Is deciding which bank fees are worse like being punched?
January 28, 2009 | alternatives, industry | Comments (0)From the Wall Street Journal’s Personal Finance Blog, The Wallet:
Personal Finance:
Trying to decide which kind of bank fee is worst is kind of like deciding where you’d rather be punched. A glance at which is worse: a bounced check, a late penalty on a credit card payment or a payday loan.
