Click here to see Darrin Andersen’s remarks before the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City yesterday. One quick highlight is the number of complaints filed against our industry … an astoundingly low number, I’m sure not as much as our critics would hope:

Consistent with our excellent customer satisfaction scores is a lack of complaints about our product. The state of Missouri logged just 29 complaints in 2.8 million payday loan transactions in 2009. Nationally, only 1,000 complaints were generated by more than 100 million transactions, according to a survey of state regulators.

In case you happen to be in Kansas City sampling some world famous BBQ, or of course doing business, make sure you also attend the Kansas City Federal Reserve Banks’ research seminar entitled: “Could Restrictions on Payday Lending Hurt Consumers?”

The seminar this afternoon will highlight recent research conducted by Community Affairs Senior Economist Kelly Edmiston entitled, “Could Restrictions on Payday Lending Hurt Consumers?” This research provides new empirical evidence on the potential benefits and costs to consumers of restricting payday lending. CFSA’s Communications Chair Darrin Andersen (also president of QC Holdings) will be testifying.

Agenda

Event Details

Date:  Today, from 2:00 to 4:00 (cst) p.m.
Location:  Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, 1 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, MO 64198

An op-ed in Janesville, WI paper want tougher restrictions on payday lending.

Missourians travel to Ohio to protest JP Morgn.  Story gratiously mentions payday lending. 

Dallas Morning News weighs in on pending payday lending legislation.

Payday lending mentioned in Denver Mayor’s race article.

Missouri wrapped up talks this year on payday lending, but it will resume next session.

A House-approved payday lending bill is dead for this year, but two senators — one Republican and one Democrat — say they plan to write a much tougher measure in time for next year’s session.

The Missouri House of Representatives will likely vote this week on restrictions for short-term lending, according to this newspaper article. There are some in the state that still want to ban payday lending, but this bill sponsor says that’s not the aim of this legislation.

Bill sponsor Rep. Ellen Brandom, R-Sikeston, said the bill would help curb abuses without putting the industry out of business.

Missouri lawmakers are still batting around payday lending bills. There are some in the state who do understand there is a need for short-term credit.

“If we don’t have payday loans, then the only choice they have is to go to a loan shark,” Brandom said

A guest commentary in Missouri explains the downside to banning payday loans.

Eliminating Missouri’s short-term lending industry would do away with an estimated 10,000 jobs with $378 million in wages, $147 million in tax revenue and an estimated $20 million in annual lease payments for the more than 1,000 storefronts that would empty under the 36 percent annual percentage rate cap advocated by Ms. Whitesides.

A St. Louis op-ed writer just doesn’t get it:

The payday loan industry in Missouri claims it is providing a service, making short-term, unsecured loans to people who otherwise would be unable to get credit. But states where interest rates have been capped at 36 percent still have people who need short-term loans. They get them from responsible lenders who are happy to operate under the new caps.

Actually, in states where payday loans have been banned have seen spikes in unregulated lenders and other negative affects.

United Payday Lenders in Missouri take issue with a recent Columbia Daily Tribune column:

By ignoring facts and disregarding the tens of thousands of Missourians who borrow responsibly and use payday loans to avoid less desirable options, Hank Waters’ March 14 column did your readers a disservice.

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By imposing a 36 percent APR cap, HB 132 would absolutely eliminate the small-loan industry in Missouri, leaving consumers to bounce more checks and incur more late-payment penalty fees. Under such a cap, lenders could charge only $1.38 for a two-week loan of $100. Research shows it costs lenders $13.89 to make such a loan.

The state director of the Missouri Civic Engagement Table takes on payday lending in an op-ed:

It is true the industry would not make high profits with 36 percent APR, but that is not because it is 36 percent; it is because of the two-week loan. Credit unions are making small dollar, short-term loans at much lower interest rates very successfully, but the loan life is six months to a year.

The truth is the industry would not exist with that arbitrary rate cap. And the author agrees that a credit union loan and a payday loan is an apples-to-oranges comparison.