At one point it appeared that the entire payday loan business was made up of a small group of loan sharks out only to make a buck off the backs of anyone who would take out a loan. This perception has changed in recent years with new regulations. Payday loans are even able to help some people save money!

At first look the interest rate appears to be pretty high, but it is often much less expensive than some of the alternatives.

Now we will look at some common misconceptions about these loans. First, payday loans are overly expensive, well probably. Of course being expensive is only relative to what the alternatives are. Taking out a payday loan instead of bouncing a cheque in most cases is a cheaper alternative. Fees for bouncing a cheque are quite often much higher than the interest paid for these loans. This is not just marketing hype by the short term loan companies, it is a fact.

If you calculate the costs it is easy to see the benefits of the payday loan over the bounced cheque. Next it is claimed that payday loans prey on the poor and under employed. However, this is not the demographic that these loans are targeted to. Industry numbers prove that the loans are not targeted to people who cannot afford to repay the loan. It would be foolish to loan money to people who can’t repay. In fact, the people who use the payday loan services are generally lower to upper middle class and have incomes in a range of thirty six thousand dollars per year. If this is the case why do they turn to short term loans then? Because it is fast! Payday loans can be deposited into a person’s account in minutes or hours and not the potential several day a bank may take. A main point is credit rating. Most people the avail these loans have less than perfect credit for whatever reason.

When something happens unexpectedly these people have few alternatives to get the cash they need to make it through the situation. Now, it has been said that payday loans cause people to get into a cycle of debt that harms them further. Well, no one forced the person to take out a loan and if they did so knowing they couldn’t repay, it is not the responsibility of the loan provider. What it amounts to is the borrower not exercising good judgment and perhaps not being honest about his finances. When these people avail a loan knowing they money will not be available to repay it, it is the individuals fault, not the loan companies. The loan was not made without the borrower’s consent. The borrower had to apply and sign an agreement stating they have the ability to repay on time.

No one was forced into the contract. The perception of a loan shark is not deserved and is actually far from the truth. Most of the people whom are hurt by payday loans are the people who knowingly enter into an agreement they can’t honor. There are some exceptions though, and the loan companies gladly work with these people to get their money back. If the loans were predatory as has been claimed, fewer people would actually be able to repay the loans and the companies would go out of business quickly, but this is not the case.