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"I read recently that they exist in large numbers near military bases. Senior officers are doing what they can to keep soliders from using these services as using them has caused extreme hardship for many soldiers who are unfamiliar with basic finance.
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Whatever happened to the 6 for 5 lenders? When I was in the USAF in the late 60s, there was always someone around willing to loan you money until payday. You got $5...you paid back $6. Borrow $50 and pay back $60. Highest interest rate loans around, but just before payday, it looked pretty good.

I had a friend at one base who did this loaning. He's now an high executive at a very large bank. We knew we were being ripped off, but we didn't care.

On my second ship in 1986 we had a fund just for our division. Everyone kicked in $20 to start. I don't remember now what we charged, but it was a little less than the other moneylenders in the berthing. The idea was just to save our guys a few bucks when they needed cash and to make a little extra to be used for divisional parties.