13 Nov Whom uses pay day loans? Perhaps not whom you may think.
In the workplaces of Advance America cash loan, posters telling stories of "the mom that is working" "the mailman " and "the hair stylist" expose the payday loan provider's market.
As traffic zoomed by on Military Highway one present Friday early morning, clients trickled in. One paid down her $500 loan and ripped up the paperwork, declaring "I'm done!" Of a dozen others borrowed cash they stated they required, their dense workplace files showing they'd been here prior to.
Edwin Cruz, a pipefitter during the shipyard whom lives nearby, paid down one loan and took down another to pay for some bills.
Elected officials and activists that are civic criticize payday financing state the companies feed down low-income residents and army workers, trapping them in high-interest loans and maintaining them in poverty.
But an analysis by The Virginian-Pilot reveals the facial skin of payday lending is nearer to what is taking place at Advance America: Lenders are targeting middle-income areas, often near department stores, and avoiding bad areas.