How Large Is The PayDay Lending Industry And How Do They Help People?
Despite the fact that the PayDay lending industry is fairly fragmented and disjointed, on the whole the industry is very large. Not only is it extensive, the industry has been growing extremely rapidly over the last few years. In the year 2000, there were between seven thousand (7,000) and ten thousand (10,000) PayDay lending offices in operation.
Just three short years later, in 2003, an estimated twenty-two thousand (22,000) offices were in operation, more than doubling the size of offices in existence for the benefit of the industry. The value of loans in the industry during the same time period grew from six billion dollars ($6,000,000,000.00) in fees in the year 2000 to more than forty billion dollars ($40,000,000,000.00) in fees by the year 2003. Part of the reason that the field is so popular and lucrative is due to the fact that the industry is able to enjoy very high profits due to the returns on the money that they lend the individuals in need of short-term loans.
Today, the industry has increased in size even more. In fact, there are some sources that have gone on the record...