> But using them to pay for utilities or rent seems like a colossally bad idea.

You_Dont_Say.gif

As the article mentions, these are probably people who don't have the money in their bank accounts to pay for those things straight away.

Frakk, even at a sane repayment terms (e.g. fixed interest monthly, no steep penalties), it's an interesting way for finance companies to profit from the misery of the leg of the K in the K-shaped economy.

▲

butvacuum 17 hours ago | parent [-]

literally anything that's better than paycheck advance ursery is a win.

	▲	gruez 16 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		You can use the same to argue for "paycheck advance ursery", because the alternative to that is borrowing from the mob, or not borrowing anything at all and being thrown on the streets.
	▲	cucumber3732842 17 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		The next best option is something like begging your friend/relative for the money they were gonna use for rent. None of the options in these situations are good.