Jamie Fulmer, the director of public affairs for Advance America, Cash Advance Centers Inc – a payday loan service – has spoken out against an article published in the Columbia Missourian that disparages both payday lenders and the customers who use them.
The article in question had been published in the Columbia Missourian in November. Among other things, it labeled payday lenders as businesses that make their money through "obscenely high interest rates," and criticized their customers as being financially uneducated.
In order to refute the article’’s claims, Fulmer wrote a letter that was published in the Missourian on Wednesday. In the letter, Fulmer referenced a recent report from the George Washington University School of Business that concluded payday loan users "generally appear to make purposive decisions" and use the short term loans "to pay unexpected expenses or expenses that could not be postponed."
Fulmer added that the article had done nothing more but attempt to stoke a political argument by stretching facts, insult a business that has been deemed legitimate by many, and "simply seeking to scare readers."
"Consumers should be smart about their money and savings, and any form of credit can be abused. But it is important to understand that payday advances can be an effective short-term option for many people," Fulmer concluded.
The city of Columbia currently has a six-month moratorium restricting any payday loan businesses from opening within its borders.
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