Beyond Payday Loans (Note Authors)

Wall Street Journal ^ | 24 January 2008 | WILLIAM J. CLINTON and ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

[Bitsy]

This has already been tried and succeeded for a while. It was called “credit unions” but banks, regulators and greed stopped them from being “mom and pop” institutions. Now credit unions are competitive with the banking industry. So sad. The credit union concept truly was for the average Joe.

[tbw2]

Payday lenders/cash checking firms may be a steal, but they are the price you pay for letting thugs rule the neighborhood.
If the risk of armed robbery in an area is high, then the locals get stuck with payday lenders.

[Kozak]

Coming soon, “subprime” bank accounts.

[Eva]

I was shocked when I saw the title of this article, that is until I saw who had authored it. I thought that the B of A was in trouble for extending credit to illegals, now they want all banks to do the same.

We are already in a credit crunch because the Clinton administration forced the extension of credit to undeserving people who could not afford to repay their debt.

I’ve had a problem with harassing calls from collection agencies for an Hispanic woman who had my telephone number about five years ago. I finally told them that if they stopped extending credit to illegals, they might not have such a problem tracking them down.

[DPMD]

“This will put money in the pockets of individuals and grow the economy. And it won’t cost taxpayers a dime.”

And both authors will argue to the end that tax cuts will NOT do that. No, the only way to go is create a phantom tax increase to pull off this sleight of hand. Gotta love liberals, like arnold.

[goodwithagun]

Brought to you by the same democratic congress that gave you subprime mortgages!

[cynwoody]

The UNBANKED?????????????? Here in the real world the only way the banking industry might not ‘Bank’ you is either
1. A history of bad checks so bad the bank says go away.
2. No valid id/documentation because you are on the lam,
or not suppose to be here in America (illegals).
3. A credit score under 500.

My bet would be on #2, by a country mile.

And those folks take the haircut twice — once to cash the paycheck; then again to send remittances south to the family in the old country.

[JohnD9207]

YEP!!!!!

I can’t think of one bank that doesn’t want more business however
rules are rules. Are the Feds gonna force banks to open accounts
regardless of well established rules of business? Reminds me of
the push to lower lending rules for no income check, and arm’s
to get folks home loans. That’s going well huh?

[Eva]

There is a reason that the pay day loan places thrive in areas where there is a heavy concentration of illegals.

[lynz]

Payday loan customers are not “unbanked”—they have to have a checking account to take out a loan in the first place. Every single payday loan customer has an account with a bank or credit union. The reality is that payday loan customers use the product to avoid the overdraft and other more expensive fees they receive from their bank or credit union.

[CarryingOn]

To state the obvious, in every city of any size there are probably more banks than needed. They compete actively for customers with free checking, etc. etc. Why in the name of common sense should tax payer money be used to pay “marketing” expense of Bank of America. Anybody with “walking around sense” can open a checking account.

Of course, to state the rest of the obvious. This ridiculous program is pure politics. duh.

[John Jorsett]

Is it me or does this sound like another plan to help undocumented illegals stay under the radar in the U.S.?

I think it's just one step in the plan to turn off the radar.

[Smogger]

Is it me or does this sound like another plan to help undocumented illegals stay under the radar in the U.S.?

Many payday loan outfits are located around military bases so they can target our fighting men and women.

Charging exorbitant interest is a sin and should be illegal.

[Ann Archy]

“helping the “unbanked” enter the financial mainstream by opening checking and savings accounts”

OMG!! OMG!!! THIS is why the housing market is in a semi-meltdown!!! Demanding that people who were TOO POOR or bad credit risks MUST be abke to "buy" homes!!!

If this goes thru, look for the banking business to go KAPUT also!!

[Ann Archy]

LOSERS WIN!!! ILLEGALS WIN!!! NON-PAYERS WIN!!!

WHAT has happened to MY once-smart AMerica???

[mamelukesabre]

Will a bank really deny you a checking account if your credit score is below a certain number?

I’m really old fashioned and I go to the bank every friday to deposit my check in person and withdraw some walking around cash to get my by until the following friday. I am always amazed the number of people in line in front of me that are there simply to cash their entire paycheck and don’t have a bank account of any kind. THey have to pay a fee to cash the check and it is not a small fee. I always hear the teller say the same thing...”if you open an account with us today you won’t have to pay the fee”. And they always decline and pay the fee. THey get fingerprinted too. It’s amazing. I forget what the fee is but it isn’t small. I think it’s 5%. These aren’t always dumb kids or mexicans either. THEy are often middle aged white men with apparently fairly good paying blue collar jobs...quality steel toe boots and coveralls and a fairly decent pickup.

[Amerigomag]

The vast majority of people without bank accounts work, and they have an average household income of $27,000. Most are also married, have at least one child, and are employed by a small business.

This is the modal, illegal, Mexican alien as he has been mainstreamed by US corporations.

[SMARTY]

If someone wanted to dismantle America, its sovereignty, traditions, social/cultural integrity, undercut its strengths and viability... they could not do better than to take a step like this.

[50sDad]

Is it me or does this sound like another plan to help undocumented illegals stay under the radar in the U.S.?

Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a Winner!

Seriously, I must have never been poor enough to have this problem, and I don't want to burn the time reading this. I walk up to a bank, put $10 down for "free checking" and get a debit card along with lots of other free stuff. What is so hard about getting a checking account?

[SMARTY]

“What is so hard about getting a checking account?”

Nothing, if you are a citizen!!!