More people than ever are filing for bankruptcy around the country. Credit cards have all but eclipsed the use of cash these days, and most people have the mistaken impression that EVERYONE must live like the celebrities that are on TV. These mistaken impressions about finances have placed some people into the situation of having to borrow copious amounts of money. That is why payday loans are gaining in popularity every year.

The face of payday borrowers has changed somewhat over the past few years. The availability of payday stores has opened up the market to people who normally would use other means to pay for their expenses. By in large, the majority of payday loan borrowers are low income people. And payday loan companies have been accused of using that fact to their advantage. They’ve also been accused of aggressively marketing towards ethnic minorities by moving many store locations in predominantly minority communities. Those things aside, a quarter of all payday loan borrowers are college graduates. With the cost of tuition increasing every year, it is no wonder that many undergraduates and graduates alike would frequent payday stores.

A US Census poll completed in 2000 also showed that the income level of borrowers is $25, 555 on the low end of the spectrum. Two thirds of borrowers were at least at that income level. The average income of payday loan customers is usually between 25 and $50,000. The people who use payday loans are usually pretty young-in the age range of 25-40; people who usually don’t have the best track record with managing money. However, 51% of payday borrowers have some sort of retirement savings account.

It seems that the thought of only the poorest people needing or taking payday loans is somewhat over exaggerated. Many everyday people use these loans as a rare convenience to make ends meet. The trouble comes into play when some borrowers use payday loans over and over again. These are the people that reflect the overall indebtedness of America. The average American has approximately 6-8,000 dollars in credit card debt. So, it is safe to assume these same people would irresponsibly use payday loans.

High risk lenders are institutions that require little to no prerequisites for borrowers before obtaining funds. Besides payday lenders, some low balance home equity and car loans have been grouped into the same category. The trend with payday borrowers is that most of them have a history of using high risk and sub prime loans. The fact that many borrowers have a history of bad credit isn’t surprising-because that may be the factor that attracted them to payday loans in the first place.

The profile of the average payday customers has changed somewhat. This industry obviously isn’t geared towards people who earn over $50,000 because those people usually have more income on hand. It’s surprising to note that a quarter of regular payday loan users are educated people. That fact begs the question-if some of these people have higher learning and earn living wages, what exactly is it that influences them to use payday loans? America’s superficial values and the pursuit of them may be the blame for that.