I need Emergency Cash

Do you need emergency money? Payment day mortgages are not your only option.

After Barbara Martinez drove home on Interstate 55, another early merger took her Honda Civic 2011 over and put her into a tight budget. Million of Americans are in the same awkward situation, just before the money with payable invoices. However, many also turn to payment day loan, which are easily to get but difficult to repay.

Mrs Martinez, who is 40, had previously taken out a payment day loan: 350 dollars to be paid back in two working days, plus commission. She was loaned $1,000 by a cooperative bank at low interest rates, with a six-month repayment period. She kept her vehicle on the street and gave her "peace of mind", she says, that a payment day loans could not do that.

Daily mortgages have been increasingly scrutinised because of the high costs involved for the borrower, such as high charges, tight maturities and the risk of becoming involved in debts. Now eighteen states are restricting or banning credit. Simultaneously, there is a growth in attempts to offer alternative solutions, such as the borrow-and-save credit with which Martinez repaired her vehicle.

It is one of the ways cooperative finance associations, small local bankers, supporters of low-income family life and a growing number of local community based businesses across the nation are working to address the needs of economically challenged people. The majority of these options are small in scope, especially in comparison with the 12 million clients per year expected in the payment day lending sector.

However, supporters believe that the increasing limitations of paying day mortgages provide an occasion to make alternative options more widely available. "The abolition of lazy credit could help good credit develop," says Lauren Saunders, deputy president of the non-profit National Consumer Law Center. Nobody is arguing that alternative payment day mortgages, taken alone, can reduce the burden on financially those who struggle to make ends meet. However, the problem is that they are not a viable alternative to pay day mortgages.

"Loan is not the solution for someone who does not have enough cash to spend," says Mrs Saunders. However, even those who criticise payment day loans say that accessing short-term loans is critical for low and middle-income family members, many of whom are living on a check to pay and are ill-prepared to deal with unanticipated outlays. They suggest that the attractiveness of paying day loans is a symptom of an industry that depends largely on low-wage earners and in which more than half of all homes spend more than they deserve.

Martínez was able to pay back her payment loans on schedule, but most borrower can not. Loans are renewed over and over again as charges rise and they continue to get into debts. Interest rate may rise above 300 per cent on an annuity base. Leading providers of payment options include cooperative banks, member-based organizations with a heritage servicing low-income populations.

The North Side Community Federal Credit Union in Chicago launched small dollars loan 20 years ago when paying day loan was just becoming popular. It began two years ago to offer large credits with a borrow-and-save facility, an ever more common characteristic of payment day options. Borrower advice is provided to help them on their way to long-term fiscal sustainability.

Martínez took out three of the credits - one for her automobile, one for the payment of doctor's fees and one for the fixation of her teeth. German governments have taken measures to promote alternative paydays. During 2010, new regulations were implemented to allow cooperative banks to raise interest rates for small consumer credits.

Meanwhile, the number of cooperative societies providing credits has increased to more than 500 - about one in ten cooperatives in the state. A number of smaller business lenders also provide payment day options. Mr Mitchell calculated 15 to 22 per cent interest for debtors and asked them to invest 10 per cent in saving.

Credits will continue to be offered by the Group. A major attraction of paying day loan is its ease of use, and so Mitchell has tried to make its option simple for even borrower. RedDough Money Centers in St. Louis are offering credit in window displays that directly competes with the payment day providers that are omnipresent in many low-income districts of the city.

This non-profit organization provides small credits at 36% interest - higher than many other options, but significantly lower than daily pay-outs. Probably the most rapidly expanding alternative are advance salaries and small credits for work. Lutheran Social Service staff receive their credit from Sunrise Banks, which grants microloans to more than 100,000 staff in 2,500 companies across the state.

This and other factors limit the range of alternative paydays. Most of the alternative solutions come from small organisations that already take care of low-income groups. Martínez sees a whole bunch of needs around her: If they are compressed, many of them use payment day loan, pawn shop or on-line lender.