Payday loans, emergency loans, short-term loans

“Cash ’til payday…” The ads are on the radio, television, the Internet, even in the mail. They refer to payday loans.

Check cashers, finance companies and others are making small, short-term, high-rate loans that go by a variety of names: payday loans, cash advance loans, check advance loans, post-dated check loans or deferred deposit check loans.

If you’re going to take a payday loan, be sure you know how they work by reading below. If you’re ready to take one already, here are some well-known payday loan providers, most of whom let you apply over the Web and pick up money the next day:
Cash Advance Network Cash Advance Now
Loan-til-Payday Internet Payday
MyPaydayLoan.com National Pay Day Loan
Payday City Quick Cash

Usually, a borrower writes a personal check payable to the lender for the amount he or she wishes to borrow plus a fee. The company gives the borrower the amount of the check minus the fee. Fees charged for payday loans are usually a percentage of the face value of the check or a fee charged per amount borrowed – say, for every $50 or $100 loaned. And, if you extend or “roll-over” the loan – say for another two weeks – you will pay the fees for each extension.

A cash advance loan secured by a personal check – such as a payday loan – is expensive credit. Let’s say you write a personal check for $115 to borrow $100 for up to 14 days. The check casher or payday lender agrees to hold the check until your next payday. At that time, depending on the particular plan, the lender deposits the check, you redeem the check by paying the $115 in cash, or you roll-over the check by paying a fee to extend the loan for another two weeks.

If you decide to use a payday loan, borrow only as much as you can afford to pay with your next paycheck and still have enough to make it to the next payday.