Okay kids. It’s quiz time!

What is the most expensive legal form of credit available to you?

If your answer is a secured credit card at 24% APR, you are off by a mile. Try getting a payday loan.

Payday loans, also known as deferred presentment, are currently available in 20 states plus the District of Columbia. They are short-term loans, generally 7 to 14 days, against a post-dated check. In Arizona, this loan against the paycheck you haven’t yet earned carries a 15% fee. On the average payday loan of $300 for eight days, this 15% fee equates to an APR of 459%!

Check cashing and payday loan shops are popping up like mushrooms in plaza storefronts around my downtown neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona. Signs announcing “Cash King coming soon” appear at 7th Street and McDowell next to the Starbucks and at Central and Thomas between the florist and the dry cleaner.

Will people take an advance on next week’s pay to buy a Mocha Frappuccino, I wonder? Will they borrow to retrieve their dry cleaning or to buy flowers for their girlfriend? As Cash King joins Cash One, CheckMate, EZLoans, Money Mart, --there are more than 250 shops in the state of Arizona with one-third in the City of Phoenix--I have to wonder. Is there a need for payday loans?

According to the payday loan propaganda, everybody needs a payday loan. It’s a quick, no hassle way for consumers to secure small, emergency loans, with little or no red tape. They claim payday loans serve an under-served market because neither consumer finance companies nor banks are interested in originating $100 to $500 non-secured loans.