Payday Loan Lowdown

By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer

The authorities may have come out in full force against payday lenders. However, there is one simple fact that they have overlooked. No payday lender has badgered people to come to them and use their services. Payday lending does not involve shoving money down the pockets of unwilling people.

Only those people who need money urgently and have a regular job, through which they can repay the loan, are eligible for a payday loan. Of course there are people who find it difficult to repay their loans and fall into a debt trap. But that involves a deeper malaise — one of free spending without proper saving education. So when the authorities are trying to oust payday loan centers, they are trying to cure the symptoms of the problem and not its root cause. What is the need of the hour is to educate people on how to spend within their means and save some for a rainy day. Once that is done, payday loans will not seem like a big problem.