Related Financial Services - The following list of company and services directories offer a wide variety of programs for consolidating bills and other similar services, such as a getting a mortgage refinance interest rate quote from a lender or an online quote for life or car insurance.
- Debt Settlement Service - If you have too many credit cards and other small debts and are unable to make your payments, this form of debt negotiation may be right for you.
- Debt Management Consolidation - Do you have too many monthly bills and payments to manage them effectively? Visit this directory of sites in order to review and compare different debt management programs that may be able to help.
- Personal Loan Rates - Need a personal loan for debt consolidation? These types of loans often do not require collateral and are available to homeowners, as well as renters.
When You Need Money Fast
Sources of Affordable Cash
37. Comparison shop for loans by looking at both total dollar costs and the Annual Percentage Rate (APR). Payday lenders, for example, typically charge about $15 for every $100 borrowed. So, on a $500 loan for two weeks, you'd pay $75 in interest. That might not sound like a lot of money to pay for a small loan, but it translates to a whopping 391 percent Annual Percentage Rate! (The APR is the effective annual interest rate on a loan after taking into account one-time fees and interest.)
And if you renew or "roll over" the $500 loan for another two weeks, you'd pay an additional $75 in fees. At that rate, in just 14 weeks, you will owe more in fees ($525) than the original loan! "Consumers often roll over the same payday loan several times because they cannot pay the full amount on the due date," said Rae-Ann Miller, special advisor on consumer issues in the FDIC's research division. "These consumers can end up paying significant sums to borrow what started out as a small amount of money."
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Summer 2007 |
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FDIC Consumer News is published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
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Last updated on 8/10/2007