[oceanplexian]

It’s predatory if you have a poor credit score, but the alternative is that you have no availability of consumer credit, which is the story in Europe.

You want to take out a loan to start a small business and aren’t well connected? Tough luck. Want a 30 year fixed rate loan to buy property on a median income salary? Take a hike. In a world without consumer credit the 99% become the permanent renting class.

[gruez]

Not to mention RE: payday loans/credit cards, paying 30% APR might seem bad, but if you've got a broken car and a $1000 repair bill, taking the 30% APR loan, paying it off in a year, and incurring $169.85 worth of interest in the process, is probably better than you losing your job. Sure, it'd be better if everyone had an emergency fund so they never need such high APR loans in the first place, but banning such "predatory" loans isn't going to magically make that happen.

[Suppafly]

The predatory part is how they are marketed to people who have no ability to pay them back, not that they exist as a product at all. If they stuck to offering them to people with steady reliable income that just need a hand out of a hole, no one would have much of a problem with them.

[nevon]

What are you talking about? These things are all available in Europe, without having to build up some credit score. If I want to get a loan for my business, I go to my bank and get one. If I want to buy property, I get a mortgage. If I want to buy a consumer good without having money on hand, I can use a credit card or use a BNPL provider. Credit here is granted based on not currently having debts, rather than being perpetually in "the right amount of debt".