ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION

What A Best-Selling Memoir Tells Us About Payday Loans. by Joe Colangelo 

(Mr. Colangelo is Executive Director of Consumers' Research, the nation's oldest consumer organization)

J.D. Vance's memoir Hillbilly Elegy is one of the most acclaimed books of the summer. An account of Vance's troubled childhood and rise out of poverty, it has been widely praised for its frank portrayal of the hardships faced by millions of people living in Appalachia and the Rust Belt. Readers have recommended it as a way of understanding various facets of American society and culture. Robert Pondiscio of U.S. News says that "the book should . . . be required reading among those of us in education and ed policy." Helen Andrews of National Review calls it "an intelligent and vivid exploration of Scots-Irish culture in the United States." And Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune explains that "Vance helps us to understand how shrinking opportunities for low-income whites helped to fuel the rise of Trump."

To this list, I'd like to add another reason the book is important: Vance's memoir demonstrates that too often, government officials create regulations that undermine the needs of the people they're supposed to be helping. This is particularly clear in a passage about payday lending.

To pay for his studies at The Ohio State University, Vance at one point held three jobs simultaneously, including a position with a state senator named Bob Schuler. Vance recounts that while working for Schuler, the senate considered a bill "that would significantly curb payday-lending practices." Vance is referring to Ohio's Sub.H.B. 545, which proposed such regulations as capping loans at $500, requiring a 31-day minimum loan duration, and prohibiting loans that exceed more than 25% of the borrower's gross salary.

Schuler was one of only four state senators to vote against the bill, which was signed into law by Governor Strickland on June 2, 2008 and became the Short-Term Lender Law. Surely someone from Vance's impoverished background, who grew up in a community that struggled to make it from paycheck to paycheck, would have resented the senator for voting against the reform. Of all people, Vance would see payday lenders as exploitative leeches, right?

As it turns out, Vance applauds Schuler's vote and concludes that he was one of the few senators who knew the everyday realities of the state's lower-income citizens. "The senators and policy staff debating the bill had little appreciation for the role of payday lenders in the shadow economy that people like me occupied," Vance writes. "To them, payday lenders were predatory sharks, charging high interest rates on loans and exorbitant fees for cashed checks. The sooner they were snuffed out, the better." 

Vance's own experience in "the shadow economy" gave him a very different perspective. Contrary to elite opinion, "payday lenders could solve important financial problems." They are useful for people who, like him, are unable get a credit card or conventional loan for various reasons, including what he refers to for himself as "a host of terrible financial decisions (some of which were [his] fault, many of which were not). As a result, he explains, "If I wanted to take a girl out to dinner or needed a book for school and didn't have money in the bank, I didn't have many options." Payday loans filled that credit gap.

Vance relates the story of when he gave his landlord his rent check even though he didn't have the money in his account to cover it. He planned on picking up his paycheck that afternoon and depositing it on his way home-but it slipped his mind. A short-term payday loan was exactly what he needed:

On that day, a three-day payday loan, with a few dollars of interest, enabled me to avoid a significant overdraft fee. The legislators debating the merits of payday lending didn't mention situations like that. The lesson? Powerful people sometimes do things to help people like me without really understanding people like me.   Read this entire article at FORBES

FirstCash Announces Successful Completion of Merger of Equals Combining First Cash Financial Services, Inc. and Cash America International, Inc.

Rick Wessel, CEO and Vice Chairman of FirstCash, commented, "The transaction creates the largest combined retail pawn store operator in Latin America and the United States, with over 2,000 locations across four countries. The merged company provides significant scale and a unified platform for leadership in the pawn industry while keeping the strong local presence and established brands from both companies.

The complementary nature of the merger presents substantial opportunities for cost synergies and operating efficiencies. These savings, coupled with the strong existing cash flows from the core pawn operations of both companies, are expected to result in an increased ability to pursue long-term international expansion plans and drive additional shareholder returns through dividends and stock repurchases."

Pawn operations will continue to be the primary focus of the combined company, with 94% of the combined company's expected revenue mix coming from pawn-related merchandise sales and pawn service fees. Read more at GILMER MIRROR

The public comment period has begun and will continue through October 7th.

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Employers embracing financial wellness programs, survey shows

Companies are getting serious about financial wellness among employees. This comes amidst increasing awareness of the role that employers can play in educating their workers about how to better safeguard the wages they earn.

A new survey by Norwalk, Connecticut-based business services company Xerox of 500 benefit managers from large employers found that just over half are either planning on putting in place a financial well-being program for employees or are already in the process of implementing one.

Thirty-eight percent of employers already have a financial wellness program in place, such as financial health assessments, workshops, or presentations on financial planning or retirement planning calculators.

More than three-quarters of employers surveyed viewed such benefits as very effective in helping employees achieve financial stability.

Employers view financial planning assistance as a way to help employees reduce stress and keep them focused on their jobs. Past studies have highlighted the amount of work time lost by employees who are preoccupied with financial problems. Calculating the productivity lost from money-related worries is near-impossible, but clearly employers have determined that it's a problem big enough to do something about. Read more at BENEFITS PRO

COMMUNITY

Amscot Financial and Local Law Enforcement to Distribute Free Bike Helmets at Sessums Elementary for International Bike to School Day

Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa received a $100,000 check from Amscot Financial to help fund its new veterinary hospital.

For the fourth consecutive year Amscot Financial, a leading provider of convenient, consumer-oriented financial services, is pleased to be a sponsor of the Annual Calle Ocho festival, scheduled to take place on March 13th in the heart of Miami's Little Havana district.

Once again Amscot Financial has partnered with the Hillsborough Water Safety Team, led by St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, to provide children from low-income families with free swimming lessons. On May 19, Amscot will present a check for $1,000. Thanks to this partnership, 30 children will learn to swim this summer.

Amscot Financial has stepped forward as a $10,000 Sponsor in an upcoming dinner benefiting 100 Black Men of America's Orlando Chapter. The dinner is part of the chapter's "Project Success Program," which will provide scholarships to African American high school students graduating in 2016.

Amscot Financial, a leading provider of convenient, consumer-oriented financial services, recently awarded mini-grants of $250 to $1,500 in support of 12 different non-profit service organizations located in the Florida communities where the company serves several million consumers.

Amscot Financial has donated a $2,500 sponsorship in support of the Inaugural Levi Henry, Jr. White Hat Award Gala recognizing community members who exemplify outstanding community service.

For Check Into Cash, 2016 has been a year of giving. Since January, Check Into Cash has awarded $500 to one lucky winner a month, plus a matching $500 donation to preselected monthly charities via Facebook giveaway. But this month's giveaway will be slightly different. For August, Check Into Cash will allow the lucky $500 winner to choose a school to receive the matching $500 donation!

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