The post you are reporting:
I'll research into community banks, Roger, out of curiosity.
Barry, the key note in my idea is the wording: essential expenses.
Many people take out a loan to cover exactly that, often they have children who need school clothes, books, or people who MUST pay the rent or mortgage, or pay for household bills such as electricity or gas.
If they fail in, say, rent or mortgage, they could find themselves leaving their home and applying for housing benefit, at the fantastic cost of the State, even if they had been working for an average salary.
To add up the pro and contra of abandoning people to extortionate interest rates could take up some time, but generally it means that the State ends up footing many bills, and that the general economy loses out, as people who must pay high interest rates often shop less.
A payday loan, according to Sky News, is something like 38% a month. Sheer insanity!