Congress threatening access to short-term credit

June 1, 2009

Consumer access to crucial financial services such as credit is being threatened by all levels of government, and, increasingly, Congress is at the center of this public policy storm. In fact, 2009 may well be remembered as the year Congress hurt the very people it intended to help by legislating out of business an industry offering a key financial product, small dollar loans.

Congress is currently considering many bills that would impose such harsh restrictions on this type of credit, typically known as payday advance loans, that most operators would simply stop offering the product. This would force the thousands of consumers who responsibly use payday advance loans to address unexpected emergencies to find other, higher-cost and possibly even illegal alternatives. The Coalition for Financial Choice (CFC) is working hard to prevent that from happening.

CFC and its members are organizing a nationwide grassroots campaign whose goal is to preserve access to basic financial services - such as check cashing, money remittances and small dollar loans. The Coalition has already recruited more than 500,000 supporters from across the country. These individuals understand the importance of maintaining access to the products they need, where and when they need them. They understand that many of the bills currently pending in Congress, no matter how well intentioned, will make their lives harder, not better. And they recognize that while Congress is looking at small dollar loans today, in the future it might decide to further restrict access to other products as well.