Indy Star: Utilities' bill-pay sites draw study's scrutiny
The U.S. payday-loan industry, criticized for charging interest rates at 390 percent a year and higher, has continued to add customers, many of whom lack checking accounts and try to operate on a cash basis in an increasingly plastic and electronic economy.
Nationally, the center's study reports, a review of 21 large utility operators found they had relationships with more than 650 licensed payday lenders. Indianapolis Power & Light Co. and Indiana Michigan Power Co -- which serves 575,000 customers in Fort Wayne, South Bend, other parts of Central and Northern Indiana, and southwestern Michigan -- were among the 21 in the study.
The study's author, Rick Jurgens, said utilities have turned to payday-loan stores as an inexpensive way to satisfy some customers' demands to pay their bills in person and in cash. The payday-loan stores provide the service because it brings in potential customers, he said. More...