What people don't seem to realize is that any brick and mortar business must price its products and services high enough to cover cost of the physical plant and the labor to run it. A drive-thru coffee shop charges $2.00 or more for a 25c cup of coffee in order to cover expenses and still make a profit. Yet no one write inflammatory articles claiming they are screwing their customers.
PayDay lenders have the same overhead as other brick and mortar businesses, except that they also have significant bad-debt losses. It's as if every 3rd or 4th customer drove away without paying for that coffee.
Of course, it is troubling that PayDay customers are almost all poor to begin with, and in the long run, PayDay loans aren't going to solve their money problems. But PayDay Loan customers clearly see it as a worthwhile service.
Disclosure: I have a friend who used to manage a PayDay Lending store. In addition to originating loans, he would spend a large portion of each day doing collections - which was essential for his store make its numbers. So he needed to be proficient at collections and up-to-date on legal collections methods on top of everything else.
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