Understanding you can act on
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| Published: | 2016-Jun-02 |
| Last Updated: | 2016-Aug-25 |
| Principal Writer: | Barry Shatzman |
 | Understanding The Issue |
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| What You Can Do |
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Do the regulations go far enough to protect payday loan users?
Pew Charitable Trusts, which has done extensive study on payday loans, says the proposed regulations still leave consumers vulnerable in several ways...
o Lenders still would be able to directly access borrowers' checking accounts
o Repayment for payday loans remains unaffordable for many borrowers.
The organization is proposing regulations that would require loans to provide for monthly payments, and to limit loan payments to 5 percent of the borrower's income.
For more, read the Pew Charitable Trusts' analysis and proposal.
An alternative - bank at your Post Office
An alternative to payday loan stores could be for U.S. post offices to provide basic banking services - including issuing small loans.
The idea is not unfounded. More than 90 percent of the world's national postal systems offer some sort of banking services. In fact, U.S. post offices offered banking services from 1910 - 1967.
For more, read The Atlantic story or this New York Times story.
You also can read our discussion of the U.S. Postal Service.