In Oklahoma, where one in eight adults turns to payday loans, are alternative financial services the

In Oklahoma, where one in eight adults turns to payday loans, are alternative financial services the best deal for Oklahomans?

Tina Pollard hears all sorts of stories of desperate moments that led Oklahomans to alternative financial services, a broad term that includes payday loans, “signature” loans, pawnshops, auto title loans and rent-to-own products.

Marketed as being helpful for financial emergencies, the quick cash granted to credit- and cash-strapped borrowers too often leaves Oklahomans with ruined credit, unmanageable debt and internal anguish over what all began with a car accident, illness or another unexpected expense. While the loans start small with payment due over two-month or two-week periods, the high interest rates and heavy fees make repaying extremely difficult. For some, it is nearly impossible.

“I’ve seen everyone from directors to housekeepers that are deeply in debt with these lenders,” Pollard told Oklahoma Gazette from inside Shawnee’s Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Center, where financial programs and counseling services are offered to Citizen Potawatomi Nation members and employees.

It’s fairly common knowledge that payday loans are expensive and dangerous. In Oklahoma, where a payday lender can charge $15 for every $100 borrowed on a two-week $300 loan, the annual percentage rate is 391 percent. Payday lenders require either a post-dated check or banking information to enter into a loan agreement. At storefront lenders where small signature loans are peddled to people in need of fast cash or looking to build credit, a $200 loan can come with interest and fees in the range of $150. Unlike payday lenders, supervised lenders do not require a post-dated check or banking information, just proof of a source of income. In the Oklahoma City metro area, the state’s Department of Consumer Credit currently licenses 185 supervised lenders and 48 payday loan shops, which outnumber the metro’s Sonic Drive-In restaurants and Braum’s Ice Cream Shop and Burger Restaurants combined.

Read more: http://okgazette.com/2017/10/20/cover-in-oklahoma-where-one-in-eight-adults-turns-to-payday-loans-are-alternative-financial-services-the-best-deal-for-oklahomans/