Payday loan providers made about $49 billion in high-interest loans year that is last. Significantly more than a 3rd of the loans were made on the web. We wondered what are the results once you submit an application for such a loan, therefore I chose to learn.
For the duration of reporting an account earlier in the day this I logged on to a site called and filled out an application year.
We asked for $500 and, become safe, We composed an target, a name (Mary) and a Social Security quantity. Your website asked for lots more sensitive and painful stuff — a bank-account quantity and a routing number — and I also made that up, too.
Regardless of the made-up information, in under minute, i obtained a reaction.
“Congratulations. Tremont Lending happens to be chosen as the loan provider and you also were pre-approved for a financial loan as much as $750.”
I would have had to pay $225 in interest if I wanted to borrow $750 for a week. The website said which was a apr in excess of 1,300 %.
I didn’t consent to just take the loan.
But within minutes, my phone rang (I experienced entered my phone number that is real).