From Offline to Online - Payday Loans Have Come a Long Way!

Most people think the payday loan industry began with the rise of payday loan shops in local towns in the early 1990's, however, payday loans have been around for quite a long time.

The payday loan as we know it actually emerged in America around 1930 particularly in areas of the country where coal mining took place. Coal mining companies would issue 'scrip' or perhaps a more familiar term would be 'vouchers' which allowed employees to purchase items they needed from 'the company store' with payment being taken out of their wages at the end of the week. Many people fondly remember a song recorded by Country Music star Tennessee Ernie Ford about 'owing his soul to the company store'. This practice evolved into company-vouchers being allowed to be used at local stores in the area with repayment coming once again on the weekly pay day.

As the country grew, and more and more people moved to large cities for employment particularly on the east coast, it became very easy to find a 'payday loan' shop, since there was at least one in every town if not one in every block of the downtown area of both large and small communities. The payday loans business grew rapidly owing to the fact that in order to get a loan, all the borrower needed to do was write a 'post-dated' check to the lender who would immediately supply the amount of the check in cash. There were at least two disadvantages associated with a visit to the local 'loan store', the first being no privacy since if you were seen entering or exiting the business, every gossip mill in town had juicy news to spread, not to mention the fact that the money could easily be lost or even stolen.

With the rise and growth of the computer world particularly the internet, a new avenue opened up for the payday loan business with many advantages for these lending companies. One of the first online payday loan companies is believed to have been Loan-Point USA. Immediately the issue of privacy took on a whole new light since people could obtain a loan online in the privacy of their home. Losing the cash or having it stolen was no longer an issue since the loan is directly deposited to one's bank account usually within hours by completing an online form and clicking your mouse.

Roo Sadegi is a travel writer based in London's East End, although he spends much of his time travelling around Europe's travel hotspots.