Northwest Florida counties trail state in payday loan generation
- December 15, 2014
- / jeffrey cassady
- / economy
As the holiday season gets well underway, many Floridians might be tempted to turn to payday loans for extra shopping cash.
Payday loans, small sums of money that are usually paid back with borrower’s next paycheck, are big business in Florida. The Florida payday loan industry lent $2.99 billion in 2012 and early 2013, according to Veritec Solutions, a research firm that tracks the industry for the state.
But recent research by the University of West Florida Haas Center for Business Research & Economic Development suggests the industry isn’t so big in Northwest Florida. County-specific data from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation shows that Escambia, Okaloosa, Bay and Santa Rosa counties produce fewer loans per person than does the state as a whole.
These findings contradict earlier studies by other organizations that suggested that the Pensacola area alone accounted for around 40 percent of Florida payday loan transactions in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
“The numbers that came out this summer just looked wrong for Pensacola, and in fact they were,” said UWF economist Rick Harper. “The low- and moderate-income families that use payday lending could benefit greatly from financial education and access to cheaper borrowing. This new look at the data gives us a correct picture of where Florida’s payday lending hot spots actually are.”