http://www.pymnts.com/home/ http://www.pymnts.com/briefing-room/underbanked/developed-markets/Bank-Battles-PayDay-Loans-Educates-The-Underserved/#PageComment_1675430 If BankPlus incurred losses for years writing small loans at 5% APR, then maybe payday lenders aren't the predatory gougers they're hyped up to be. Like anything, it's all about scale, and small loans are expensive. The only way BankPlus turned it around was by steering their borrowers into checking and savings accounts, products which payday lenders can not offer under current regulatory regimes. Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:41:21 -0600 Resse Bagwell http://www.pymnts.com/briefing-room/underbanked/developed-markets/Bank-Battles-PayDay-Loans-Educates-The-Underserved/#PageComment_1675430 http://www.pymnts.com/briefing-room/underbanked/developed-markets/Bank-Battles-PayDay-Loans-Educates-The-Underserved/#PageComment_1625385 This loan model initiative by BankPlus is a welcome addition to the plethora of financial choices available to consumers. We sincerely hope it helps drive down consumer payday loan rates and eliminates the few remaining "bad players" from the small dollar loan industry.

We've experimented with consumer literacy programs with mixed results. Typically, our borrowers preferred immediate access to the loan proceeds then failed to attend our educational programs.

We'll watch this program closely and learn. The future? Larger loans for longer terms with payments that include principal reduction; no balloon payments. Jer - Trihouse (100% biased.) Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:05:11 -0600 Jer - Trihouse http://www.pymnts.com/briefing-room/underbanked/developed-markets/Bank-Battles-PayDay-Loans-Educates-The-Underserved/#PageComment_1625385