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Impact Of Mini Banking And Subprime Lending Practices

Decent Essays

Usury Laws
Currently, there is a lot of controversy surrounding mini-banking and subprime lending practices, which include “payday loans” and high interest credit cards, because some feel these financial practices are not fair. The purpose of usury laws is to place a cap on excessive interest rates. It has become commonplace for many unsavory lenders to take advantage of current laws, which charge on excessive fees and rates, all in the name of profit. According to Elizabeth Warren, the government should return to usury laws, laws that go back to biblical times, and colonial times, where strong usury laws were in place. In 1979, a new law was discretely changed allowing financial companies to remove limits on rates. (Maher & Warren, 2010) By examining the strengths and weaknesses of usury laws, from a consequentialism and contractarianism perspective, we can see how there needs to be a balance in how companies engage in lending practices.
The problem with the current state of micro-banks and credit card companies is the amount of the fees and interest charges they are charging, usually to consumers who are poor and low wage earners, who desperately seek out these alternatives to take care of their financial needs. These practices leave them in a more desperate state because the extortionate fees, making it impossible to stay current on their payments, by driving disadvantage consumers in deeper debt. Some of these companies charge high percentage rates, and being late on

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