payday greed: how banks and payday lenders profit from minnesotans in need
DESCRIPTION
This is the fourth in the the series of "Inside the Vault" reports. Wells Fargo and US Bank have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars in capital into the payday loan industry, including providing financing to Payday America and ACE Cash Express as well as to other payday lenders operating in Minnesota. Payday lenders maintain that their loans are meant to help people in a one-time emergency, but in fact payday loans often sink people deeper in debt and trap them in extremely expensive loans.TRANSCRIPT
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 1
Introduction
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The White Paper Template 1
October 2015
Payday
Greed: How Banks and
Payday Lenders
Profit from
Minnesotans
in Need
ISAIAH
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 2
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 3
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 4
About Payday Loans .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Who Uses Payday Loans ........................................................................................................................................... 6
How Banks Drive Customers to Payday Lenders..................................................................................................... 6
Bank Financing of Payday Lenders ........................................................................................................................... 7
Bank Payday Lending ................................................................................................................................................. 8
Payday Lending and Minnesota Law ........................................................................................................................ 9
Payday Politics ......................................................................................................................................................... 10
The Payday Lending Debt Trap in Minnesota ........................................................................................................... 11
What Can Be Done .................................................................................................................................................... 12
About ISAIAH ............................................................................................................................................................. 12
Appendix - Uniform Commercial Code Filings ......................................................................................................... 13
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 4
Introduction
The above slogans are just some of those used
by the two largest payday lenders in Minnesota
-- Payday America and ACE Cash Express -- in
the course of making their high interest, short
terms loans.
Payday lenders made almost 400,000 loans in
Minnesota last year totaling $150 million.1
Payday America and ACE accounted for three
out of every four of these loans.2 Payday
America by itself made nearly half of all
payday loans issued in the state.3
Payday lending in Minnesota is regulated by the
state’s Consumer Small Loan Act, which caps
loan fees and amounts. However, Payday
America and ACE have evaded these
regulations by exploiting a loophole in the law.4
In order to fend off legislative changes aimed at
closing that loophole and providing stronger
protections to consumers, Payday America
owner Brad Rixmann has become one of the
biggest political donors in the state, giving
almost $550,000 in the last decade.5 Payday
America spent $300,000 on lobbying the state
legislature just in 2014.6
Payday lenders maintain that their loans are
meant to help people in a one-time emergency,
but in fact payday loans often sink people
deeper in debt and trap them in extremely
expensive loans.
The average Minnesota payday loan customer
takes out ten loans a year.7 Nearly a quarter of
payday loan customers took out 15 or more
loans.8
Payday lenders exploited a need that banks were
not meeting for their customers. Rather than
changing their practices or developing new
products to better serve their customers’ needs,
banks opportunistically chose to invest in payday
lenders and share in their profits.
Wells Fargo and US Bank have pumped hundreds
of millions of dollars in capital into the payday
loan industry, including providing financing to
Payday America and ACE Cash Express as well as
to other payday lenders operating in Minnesota.
Wells Fargo and US Bank did begin to offer
payday loan products of their own. However,
instead of being an affordable alternative to payday
lenders, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank charged even
larger fees and higher rates than many payday
lenders in Minnesota.
In 2013, the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency (OCC) issued guidance to prevent banks
from making small-dollar loans that caught their
customers in a debt trap because they couldn’t
afford to pay the loans back.9 In January 2014, US
Bank and Wells Fargo announced that they were
discontinuing their payday loan products.10
Both banks announced they would be developing
new products. US Bank issued a statement that the
bank was “committed to finding new solutions that
meet the needs of all of our customers and fit
within the current regulatory expectations.”11
However, there has been no action to date.
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 5
About Payday Loans
Fifteen years ago, payday lending played only a
marginal role in the economy. Today there are
76 payday loan stores in Minnesota -- three
times more than were in operation in 2000.12
Payday loans are short-term consumer loans for
small amounts. They derive their name from
their due date: the loans need to be repaid on the
day when the customer receives their next
paycheck (or government benefits check).
Payday lenders say their loans are meant to help
people in a one-time emergency, but in fact
payday loans often sink people deeper in debt
and trap them in extremely expensive loans.
Customers must have a bank account. To obtain
the loan, customers must agree to "secure" the
loan by authorizing the lender to make a
withdrawal for the loan amount plus interest
from the customer's bank account on their next
payday.
Payday lenders have built their entire business
on the simple truth that low- and moderate-
income families don't have a lot of money and
are often in need of funds. These lenders
beckon customers with promises of how fast and
easy the process will be (in contrast to the loan
process at a bank).
As ACE Cash Express advertises: 13
Payday lenders don't consider whether the
person can repay a loan before approving it.
There are no credit checks. As long as someone
has an ID, bank account and source of income,
they can get a loan. Payday lenders profit most
when consumers are unable to repay their loans
and so need to take out a new one.14
Most customers can't afford to repay the whole
loan in just a week or two, and if
lender tries to withdraw the money from their bank
account, it will overdraw their account, costing the
customer even more in fees. So instead of
incurring non-sufficient funds fees, the customer
takes out a new loan to pay off the old one, leading
to a cycle of debt that can last for months or even
years.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) found that four out of five payday loans
are rolled over or renewed within 14 days. The
CFPB also found that the majority of all payday
loans are made to borrowers who renew their loans
so many times that they end up paying more in
fees than the amount they originally borrowed.15
In 2014 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) took enforcement action against ACE Cash
Express for pushing payday borrowers into a cycle of
debt. The CFPB found that ACE used illegal debt
collection tactics – including harassment and false
threats of lawsuits or criminal prosecution – to
pressure overdue borrowers into taking out additional
loans they could not afford.16
ACE's 2011 training manual includes a graphic
showing the cycle in which customers first receive
the loan, then when they can't repay it, they are
pressured to take out a new loan.
ACE Cash Express Training Manual
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 6
Who Uses Payday Loans
It should come as no surprise that payday
loans, with their triple-digit interest rates, are
not used by wealthy consumers. Eighty-one
percent of payday loan customers have a
household income less than $50,000 and half
(forty-nine percent) had household incomes
less than $25,000.17
In addition to low-and moderate income
families, people of color make up a
disproportionate number of payday loan
users. Less than 4 percent of white
households have used payday loans,
compared to 12 percent of African-American
households.18
Those who are separated or divorced are also
more likely to use payday loans. Thirteen
percent of people who are separated or
divorced have taken out payday loans,
compared to seven percent of those who are
single and five percent of those who are
married.19
How Banks Drive Customers to Payday Lenders
Payday lenders exploited a need that banks were
not meeting for their customers. To gain even
more business, payday lenders also made their
product more accessible than traditional bank
products. Almost half of all households that use
payday lenders say they do so because payday
loans are easier to qualify for than bank loans.20
Banks generally do not make small
loans in amounts such as $300 or
$500. Although banks offer credit
cards and lines of credit, many
customers do not know about them
or do not qualify for these products
which have overly strict
underwriting requirements.
Some bank customers say they
have taken out payday loans
precisely to avoid overdrawing
their checking account and having
to pay large non-sufficient funds
(NSF) fees,21
currently $35 for each
overdraft at Wells Fargo and US
Bank.
Rather than developing new products to better
serve their customers' needs, banks such as
Wells Fargo and US Bank opportunistically
chose to invest in predatory payday lenders and
share in the profits.
“Despite the tremendous demand for
small- dollar, unsecured loans, most
products available in the market come
at a high cost to consumers. Banks have
the tools and infrastructure to create
products meeting this need that are
beneficial to both the banks and their
customers.”29
- Sheila Bair, former chair,
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC)
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 7
Bank Financing of Payday Lenders
Almost all of the major payday lenders receive
their funding from large banks such as Wells
Fargo and US Bank. Payday lenders would not
have the money to lend their customers if they
did not receive financing from banks.
Advance America
Wells Fargo and US Bank have pumped
hundreds of millions of dollars of capital into
the payday loan industry. For instance, in
December 2011, Wells Fargo, US Bank, and
Bank of America together renewed their $300
million line of credit to the biggest payday
lender in the country -- Advance America.22
In 2012 Advance America was purchased by a
Mexican consumer finance company, and Wells
Fargo served as the financial advisor to
Advance America in the sale.23
Wells Fargo has been involved since the very
beginning of the payday loan industry,
providing $40 million with Bank of America in
start-up financing to Advance America.24
Payday America
Payday America is a privately owned
company, which means that very little of its
financial information is publicly available, so
it is not possible to find out the sources of
financing the way one can for publicly-traded
companies. However, when a business
borrows money to purchase equipment and
uses the equipment as collateral, the bank files
a commercial lien, known as a Uniform
Commercial Code (UCC) statement, on the
property.
There are numerous UCC filings from US
Bank, Wells Fargo, and other banks regarding
their commercial loans to Payday America, its
parent company Pawn America, and other
payday lenders operating in Minnesota. For
instance, US Bank has made at least five loans
to Payday America and its parent company
Pawn America since 2009.25
ACE Cash Express
Wells Fargo and US Bank also have a long history
financing ACE Cash Express, the second largest
payday lender in Minnesota.
In 2002 ACE entered into a credit agreement with a
syndicate of banks, including US Bank and led by
Wells Fargo. They extended a $120 million credit
facility to ACE and a $45 million credit facility
available during the year-end holiday season.26
Over the next several years, this agreement was
amended to significantly increase the amount of
credit available to ACE and to lower the interest rate
that ACE had to pay the banks for the credit.
Financing to ACE Cash Express
Year
Max Available
Interest
Rate Revolving
Credit
Facility
Seasonal
Credit
Facility
2002 $120 million $45 million LIBOR
plus 4.0%
200327
$120 million $55 million LIBOR
plus 3.5%
200428
$140 million $60 million LIBOR
plus 2.50%
200629
$200 million $75 million LIBOR
plus 2.0%
These agreements brought millions of dollars in fees
to the banks, on top of the interest. ACE paid
upfront commitment fees of:
$1.1 million in December 200230
$1.1 million in February 200331
$1.7 million in March 200332
$800,000 in 200633
These credit agreements were secured by liens on all
of the assets of ACE and its subsidiaries and were in
effect until 2010, at which time they were extended
again until 2015.
In addition, Wells Fargo served as trustee for several
debt financings for ACE:
$175 million of 10.25% senior notes in 200634
$350 million in 11.0% senior notes in 201135
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 8
Other Payday Lenders US Bank and Wells Fargo have provided
financing to a number of other large payday
lenders in the U.S.
EZCorp has over 1,400 stores.36 U.S. Bank is one
of the lenders, and Wells Fargo was the
administrative agent, joint lead arranger, and joint
bookrunner for a $175 million credit agreement
issued to EZCorp in 2011.37
Cash America has over 900 stores.38 Wells Fargo,
US Bank and other lenders entered a 2005 credit
3940
41
42.43
Bank Payday Lending
Until 2014, US Bank and Wells Fargo offered
their own payday loan products. However, instead
of being an affordable alternative to payday
lenders, the banks charged even larger fees and
higher rates than many payday lenders in
Minnesota.
US Bank called its payday loan product
"Checking Account Advance" and charged
customers $2 for every $20 borrowed. Wells
Fargo's product was "Direct Deposit Advance"
and charged $1.50 for every $20 borrowed.
The fees may at first seem reasonable, but because
the loan terms are so short (typically 14 days) they
amount to an extremely high Annual Percentage
Rate (APR). For instance, US Bank charged $50
on a $500 loan, which is a 260% APR.
The banks made loans, up to a maximum of $500,
to their checking account customers who had
direct deposit. Wells Fargo and US Bank would
withdraw the loan payment (loan amount plus
fees) directly from the customer's next automatic
direct deposit.
A study by the Center for Responsible Lending
found on average, 44 percent of a bank payday
loan customer's next deposit went toward repaying
the payday loan, which basically forced the
customer to take out another loan to make it to
th 44
45
The study also found that one out of every four
bank payday loan customers was on Social
Security, and that people on Social Security were
almost three times as likely to have used a bank
payday loan as bank customers as a whole.46
In 2013, the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency (OCC) and the FDIC issued guidance to
prevent banks from making small-dollar loans that
caught their customers in a debt trap because they
couldn’t afford to pay the loans back. In January
2014, US Bank and Wells Fargo announced that they
were discontinuing their payday loan products.47
Both banks announced that they would be
developing new products. US Bank issued a
statement that the bank was “committed to finding
new solutions that meet the needs of all of our
customers and fit within the current regulatory
expectations”48
However, it has now been almost
two years, and there has been no action to date.
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 9
Payday Lending and Minnesota Law
Payday America and ACE Cash Express accounted
for three out of every four payday loans made in
Minnesota.49
Payday America by itself made nearly
half of all payday loans in the state.50
Payday Lending Market Share
201451
In Minnesota, payday loans are regulated by the
Consumer Small Loan Act (Minn. Stat. § 47.60).
The maximum size of a loan permitted under the
act is $350 and the maximum fees that may be
charged are $26.
However, Payday America and ACE Cash
Express found a loophole so as not to be bound by
the maximum loan or fee limit. These companies
circumvent the state law by registering as
industrial loan and thrifts.
As an industrial loan and thrift, these lenders make
their loans under a different Minnesota statute
§47.59. Under this statute, lenders can charge a
33 percent interest rate plus a $25 administrative
fee on a "closed-end" loan (as ACE does) or 33
percent interest and an annual fee of up to $50 for
an "open-end" loan (as Payday America does).
Payday America and ACE are also able to exceed
the $350 maximum loan amount -- a fact Payday
America touts, "We conveniently offer advances
up to $1,000 - far surpassing the maximum of
many other companies."
Banks charged even higher than allowed under that
loophole. US Bank argued that because it was
chartered nationally by the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the national
bank pre-emption standards allowed them to
override state law in some circumstances.
Fees and APR on a $350 loan
S
A number of states had enacted restrictions on
payday lending, but US Bank and Wells Fargo
continued to make payday loans in those states,
charging higher fees and rates than permitted by
state law.
Lender Fee APR
Payday America52
$31.43 234%
ACE Cash Express $28.15 210%
Allowed by MN Stat. § 47.60 $26.00 194%
(until January 2014)
US Bank $36.00 268%
Wells Fargo $26.25 196%
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 10
Payday Politics
Brad Rixmann owns 26 Pawn America stores and
16 Payday America stores. He said he got
involved in politics about ten years ago when a
number of bills were introduced to close the
payday loan loophole in state law, which would
not have been good for Rixmann's business.53
He quickly became one of the biggest political
donors in Minnesota, giving more than
$540,000 since 2002, about 90 percent of it going
to Republican candidates and committees.54
In
2014 when Democrats controlled both chambers
of the legislature, he made a quarter of his
contributions ($15,000) to Democrats.55
In 2013
gave more to Democrats than to Republicans.56
A bill that would have imposed additional
regulations on the payday loan industry looked as
if would pass in the 2014 legislative session. It
was quickly approved by the House, but then got
bogged down in the Senate. Rixmann had made
contributions of $2,500 to both the DFL and
Republican Senate caucuses on the eve of the
legislature's convening.57
The Senate weakened the bill's restrictions and
then Republican leaders threatened not to support
the bonding bill unless the payday lending bill
was killed.58
The Republican House minority leader said he
opposed the bill because he felt it targeted
Rixmann as a major Republican donor.59
Rixmann has also been involved in politics
beyond simply writing checks. In a 2012
Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal profile
about "A Day with Pawn America's Brad
Rixmann," he received a call from House Speaker
Kurt Zellers, and the two talked for fifteen
minutes about redistricting and fundraising.
Rixmann was finance co-chair of the 2010 Tom
Emmer for Governor campaign and of the 2014
Kurt Zeller for Governor Campaign Finance
Committee.60
Rixmann is also the chair of the Minnesota Pawn
Brokers Association, and his government affairs
director is the chair of the Minnesota Retailers
Association. The Retailers Association's board is
made up of lobbyists from other retailers
including Target, Walmart, the Mall of America,
Best Buy, and McDonalds franchisees.
The Retailers Association opposed raising the state
minimum wage above the federal amount and
opposed indexing the wage to inflation. Its 2015
Legislative Priorities included preempting cities and
counties from implementing minimum wages higher
than the state's.
The Association also opposed legislation that would
require businesses to provide paid time off if their
employees or their relatives become ill. The
Association “believes that retailers are best suited to
establish wages and benefits in the workplace, and
opposes a workplace sick leave mandate.”
The Retailers Association is also opposing efforts at
the city level in Minneapolis to provide paid time
off for illness and to require fair scheduling
practices.
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 11
The Payday Lending Debt Trap in Minnesota
Most payday loan customers can't afford to repay their
loan in full and meet their other basic needs until their
next paycheck, and since payday lenders do not allow
customers to repay their loans in installments, the
customers end up taking out additional loans and paying
the associated fees. This is how they end up caught in
the debt trap.
Only fifteen percent of payday loan customers have
the means to repay the loan within two weeks.61
The
other eight-five percent of customers must renew or
roll over their loan.
The CFPB found that the majority of all payday loans
are made to borrowers who renew their loans so many
times that they end up paying more in fees than the
amount they originally borrowed.62
Top ten Minnesota cities based on 2012
payday loan volume63
This means that the vast majority of loans made in
Minnesota are not providing customers with
access to new credit, but are essentially just paying
off old credit and costing the customer new fees
each time.
While this is a problem that affects all of
Minnesota, there are certain communities that are
impacted more than others.
As shown in the chart below, payday loan stores
are concentrated in specific areas.
City Payday
America
ACE Cash
Express
Other
Lenders
TOTAL
2012 LOANS
St. Paul $961,000 $438,000 $101,000 $1.5 million
Bloomington $869,000 $92,000 $39,000 $1.0 million
Burnsville $992,000 N/A N/A $992,000
Robbinsdale $968,000 N/A N/A $968,000
Rochester $797,000 N/A N/A $820,000
Minneapolis $398,000 $272,000 N/A $770,000
Fridley $743,000 N/A N/A $743,000
Brooklyn Center N/A $614,000 N/A $614,000
Anoka $572,000 N/A $26,000 $598,000
St. Cloud $404,000 N/A $51,000 $455,000
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 12
What Can Be Done
1) The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) should implement consumer protections
regarding the length of loans and "roll over" or
"back-to-back" provisions to keep payday lenders
from ensnaring consumers in a debt trap.
2) The Minnesota State Legislature should finally
pass strong regulations on payday lending to
protect Minnesota consumers from abusive
practices.
3) Congress should enact a 36 percent rate cap on
all lending. Congress protected military personnel
from predatory payday lenders by passing a 36
percent cap on annual interest. It should extend this
to loans to non-military.
4) US Bank and Wells Fargo should stop providing
financial backing to predatory payday lenders. The
banks should instead start offering affordable,
small loan products that meet the needs of their
customers and should provide funding to programs
that help people escape the payday debt trap, such
as Exodus Lending.
5) The Minnesota Retailers Association should
remove the Pawn America representative as the
organization's chairperson. The Association
opposes a higher minimum wage. Pawn America
and Payday America have a direct self-interest in
keeping working people impoverished. Their
business model is based on people not being able
to make ends meet.
6) Payday loan customers who are caught in the
payday loan debt trap should contact Exodus
Lending, an initiative of Holy Trinity Lutheran
Church in Minneapolis. The program refinances
payday loan debt and allows the borrower to
repay the loan at zero-percent interest over an
appropriate period of time.
Visit http://www.exoduslending.org/
About ISAIAH
ISAIAH is a vehicle for congregations, clergy, and
people of faith to act collectively and powerfully
towards racial and economic equity in the state of
Minnesota. www.isaiahmn.org
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 13
Appendix - Uniform Commercial Code Filings
Debtor Lender Date
Payday America/Pawn America
US Bank 11/26/14
US Bank 8/27/13
Drake Bank 8/23/13
Venture Bank 5/24/13
People's Bank of Commerce 1/25/13
US Bank 9/18/12
Western National Bank 5/24/12
Capital Bank 5/24/12
First Minnetonka City Bank 1/4/12
Signature Bank 12/13/11
Venture Bank 12/5/11
US Bank 7/29/11
Private Bank 9/30/10
US Bank 10/27/09
Western Bank 8/27/09
Unloan Company/
Unbank Company
MB Financial Bank 3/27/13
US Bank 4/11/13
Wells Fargo 8/16/11
MB Financial Bank 4/2/13
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 14
End Notes 1 "Minnesota religious leaders to campaign for payday lending reform," Star Tribune, Ricardo Lopez, August 18, 2015
2 "Myths and Facts about Payday Lending," Minnesotans for Fair Lending, April 2014
3 "Leader in payday loans makes his presence felt at Minnesota Capitol," Star Tribune, Ricardo Lopez, August 10, 205
4 "History repeats itself: A new generation of payday lenders exploit a legal loophole to pick Minnesotans' pockets," Ron Elwood and
Kari Rudd for Legal Services Advocacy Project, February 2010, pp. 3 and 8 5 Star Tribune, August 10, 2015
6 Ibid
7 "Hotdish Politics: Payday lenders in the cross hairs," Star Tribune, Abby Simmons, April 5, 2014
8 "Demand for high-interest payday loans soars in Minnesota," MinnPost.com, January 28, 2013
9 "Wells Fargo, US Bank to end deposit advance loans, citing tougher regulation," Washington Post, Danielle Douglas, January 17,
2014 10
Ibid 11
Ibid 12
"Payday Lending in Minnesota: 2014 and Cumulative Statistics," Minnesotans for Fair Lending based on reports filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, 2015 13
https://www.acecashexpress.com, accessed October 6, 2015 14
"Payday Loans, Inc: Short on Credit, Long on Debt," Uriah King and Leslie Parrish, Center for Responsible Lending, Executive Summary, March 31, 2011 15
"CFPB Takes Action Against ACE Cash Express for Pushing Payday Borrowers into Cycle of Debt," Consumer Financial Protection Bureau press release, July 10, 2014 16
Ibid 17
"Payday Lending in America: Who Borrows, Where They Borrow, and Why," Pew Charitable Trusts, July 2012 18
Ibid 19
Ibid 20
"FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Under-banked Households," December 2009 21
"Customers Use Payday Loans for Emergency Expenses," Jason Mikula, March 2, 2012 22
National People's Action, January 2012 23
"Advance America Surges on Mexican Billionaire's Takeover Bid," Bloomberg.com, February 16, 2012 24
"The Predators' Creditors: How the Biggest Banks Are Bankrolling the Payday Loan Industry," National People's Action and Public Accountability Initiative, 2010 25
See Appendix 26
ACE Cash Express Form 10-Q, filed May 12, 2003 27
Ibid 28
ACE Cash Express, Form 10-K, filed August 29, 2006 29
Ibid 30
ACE Cash Express Form 10-Q, filed May 12, 2003 31
Ibid 32
Ibid 33
ACE Cash Express, Form 10-K, filed August 29, 2006 34
"ACE Cash Express, Inc. Announces Earnings Conference Call for Noteholders to Discuss Quarter Results," company press release, November 11, 2013 35
Ibid 36
"EZCorp Names New Chief Financial Officer," company press release, March 2, 2015 37
$175,000,000 Credit Agreement among EZCorp, Inc. as Borrower, the lenders party hereto and Wells Fargo Bank National Association as Administrative agent, May 10, 2011 38
http://www.cashamerica.com/AboutUs/CompanyHistory.aspx, accessed September 2015 39
Commitment Increase Agreement dated as of February 9, 2008 40
Ibid 41
Sixth Amendment to Credit Agreement by among Cash America International, Inc., the lenders party hereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association as administrative agent for the lenders, December 23, 2014
Payday Greed: How Banks and Payday Lenders Profit from Minnesotans in Need Page 15
42
https://www.qcholdings.com/whoweare.aspx, accessed September 2015 43
Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement among QC Holdings, Inc. and the Lenders that are Parties hereto and U.S. Bank National Association,, as agent, sole book runner, and lead arranger, July 23, 2014 44
"Big Bank Payday Loans: High-Interest loans through checking accounts keep customers in long-term debt," Center fo Responsible Lending, July 2011 45
Ibid 46
Ibid 47
Washington Post, January 17, 2014 48
Ibid 49
"Myths and Facts about Payday Lending," Minnesotans for Fair Lending, April 2014 50
"Leader in payday loans makes his presence felt at Minnesota Capitol," Star Tribune, Ricardo Lopez, August 10, 2015 51
Minnesotans for Fair Lending, 2015 52
Payday America fee schedule and APR calculations based on a 14 day loan term 53
"Rixmann a growing force among political donors," Politics in Minnesota, Briana Bierschbach, November 9, 2011 54
Star Tribune, August 10, 2015 55
http://www.startribune.com/explore-13-years-of-a-payday-lender-s-political-spending/321085891/ 56
Ibid 57
http://www.startribune.com/leader-in-payday-loans-makes-his-presence-felt-at-minnesota-capitol/321143221/ 58
Ibid 59
Ibid 60
"A day with Pawn America's Rixmann," Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal, John Hageman, January 13, 2012 61
"Most payday loan borrowers get stuck in "revolving door of debt," Los Angeles Times, Jim Puzzanghera, March 24, 2014 62
"CFPB Takes Action Against ACE Cash Express for Pushing Payday Borrowers into Cycle of Debt," Consumer Financial Protection Bureau press release, July 10, 2014 63
Minnesota Department of Commerce