This is the headline of an ad I keep seeing on TV. The first few times I saw it, I was like, okay… who are you, and why do you trust me so much? This is one of those payday loan advance places. They don’t so much trust you, but they are relatively certain that they aren’t going to lose too much money either.

You see, these very trusting people are charging A LOT of interest on your loan. Why? Because they figure that most of the people who use their service won’t be able to pay back the whole loan, so they want to get their money up front. If you do pay it back, great! If not, no worries! At 99.25% interest for $2600.00 (in California, for one company. Others may be even higher), you will only need to pay back 42 payments of $216.55.

Why am I looking at these loans? It’s simple. They prey on my audience. The take the people who are least able to pay back these loans, and destroy their credit while they collect the hard-earned money of those who keep them in business. The attack the poor, the young, the inexperienced, the desperate, and worst of all– the unlucky.

Do I want $10,000.00 put into my account based on trust? Not at that price. If I needed the money, I’d rather the loan be based on my actual ability to pay back such a loan, as proven by my credit history. This way, I’m more likely to pay interest that is more in line with the risk the company is taking on me. What does this mean to me? Quite simply it means that I need to work to keep my credit clean and current while I DON’T need the money, so that when an “EMERGENCY” truly does come up, I won’t be tempted to settle for this financial rape.