The Loan Shark was a staple bad guy of the movies of the 1940’s and 1950’s. He was that shady guy with the nice clothes and fancy house that lived in the seedy side of town. And when you needed money fast, and the bank turned you down, there was only one other person who could help: the Loan Shark.
The Loan Shark was a criminal who made his money by preying on the poor. Perhaps they were out of work, about to be evicted, or needed the money for hospital bills. He would loan them money at astronomical interest rates and ridiculously short maturity dates.
The Loan Shark ran a tight business. When the loan was due, he would send his hired thugs to collect the principal as well as the huge interest payment. If the borrower could pay on time, all was well. If not, the thugs threatened and beat the hapless borrower, gave him a short extension on the loan, and increased the interest even higher.
Loan sharks operated in the real world also, and were often associated with organized crime. But a relatively new way of borrowing money fast has reduced the loan shark from a great white shark to a guppy. It’s called a payday loan.
A payday loan...