Stop predatory, short-term loans!
Petition to Congress:
I urge you to investigate companies offering direct-to-consumer Earned Wage Access loans for predatory lending practices.
Every single day, financial companies are thinking up new ways to wrestle away your money with fees, high-interest rates, and predatory behavior. The newest scam is a direct-to-consumer “Earned Wage Access” (EWA) scheme that blends payday loan and paycheck advance.1
Companies are hitting unwitting consumers with a barrage of targeted ads. Then, after people sign up for an ultra-short-term high-interest loan, companies hit them with a barrage of fees. This is ruining people’s finances — people who were already struggling to get by (that’s why they sought one of these loans to begin with).
This is another consequence of Trump and MAGA Republicans in Congress fighting to deregulate the financial sector and leave consumers at the will of greedy, predatory corporations. It’s wrong and it must stop.
Sign the petition to Congress: Investigate companies targeting people with predatory Earned Wage Access schemes!
“In the end, I've probably lost hundreds if not thousands of dollars from this stuff.” That’s from one of the many people who’ve been sucked into these predatory EWA schemes. He said he felt like he was getting “free money.”2
But, of course, these companies are not giving away free money. They’re saddling people with debt from high fees and high interest rates.
Congress can take action and protect Americans from predatory lending. And it’s time our lawmakers stepped up and stopped allowing banks and tech companies to get ahead of government regulators.
Add your name: Congress must investigate predatory hyper short-term lending.
Sources:
- The American Prospect, "Fintech’s Latest Scheme," May 1, 2023.
- Ibid.