Payday Loans Can Charge 400 Percent Interest, But Options Exist

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) September 30, 2009 -- SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 23, 2009 – Every week, many thousands of Americans take out payday loans -- short-term loans that must be repaid from the next paycheck. These loans can drive consumers deeply into debt, said Ethan Ewing, president of free online consumer portal Bills.com, who provided tips to help people avoid the payday loan trap.

"When many people get into a financial bind, they go to a payday lending store and borrow a few hundred dollars," Ewing explained. "They plan to repay the loan in a week or two, when they have the money. But they pay a huge price. Payday loans can become a dangerous addiction that can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars a year."

Payday lending is big business in America. Nationwide, 22,000 payday advance stores loan more than $40 billion in short-term credit. The typical interest fee on a loan is $15 on a $100 advance, and most loans must be repaid within two weeks.

"While payday loans may make economic sense for some people in a few limited instances – such as using them to avoid a substantial late fee or bounced-check fee, or keeping electric service from being turned off – they can become dependencies that will cost you dearly," Ewing said.

Visit http://www.bills.com/payday-loans-can-charge-400-percent-interest-but-options-exist-press-release/ to read the techniques Ewing suggested to avoid payday loans.

About Bills.com (www.bills.com)
Based in San Mateo, Calif., Bills.com (www.bills.com) is a free one-stop portal where consumers can educate themselves about complex personal finance issues and comparison shop for products and services including credit cards, debt consolidation, insurance, mortgages and other loans. Bills.com holds the No. 273 spot on the Inc. 500 list for 2009.

Bills.com and its sister companies, Freedom Debt Relief and Freedom Tax Relief, are wholly owned subsidiaries of Freedom Financial Network, LLC. The company has served more than 50,000 customers nationwide since 2002 while managing more than $1 billion in consumer debt. Its RSS feed is available at http://www.bills.com/news_releases/.

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