Waters Statement on Google Announcement to Ban Payday Lending Ads

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, issued the following statement on an announcement from Google that it will ban ads for short-term loans with high interest rates:

“Today, Google announced an initiative to protect consumers from predatory payday lending by banning ads for short-term loans with high rates. After studying the data, Google found that some credit products trap consumers in a never-ending cycle of debt. According to Google’s own research, products with short repayment periods or high APRs can result in unaffordable payments and high default rates.

I applaud Google’s integrity and courage, which comes as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working on rules to protect consumers from abusive practices. These lenders target our most vulnerable populations, trapping them in a cycle of debt that can be impossible to get out of.

Congress instructed the CFPB to study payday lending data, and empowered them to design rules that ensure fairness for consumers. Like Google, they have found that online payday lenders have been using internet advertising to circumvent state consumer protection laws, assess egregiously high loan fees, and charge interest rates of more than 1,000 percent APR.

Predatory lending practices that take advantage of consumers aren’t just bad for the advertising business, but for everyone’s business.”

In 2015, Rep. Waters led an Interfaith Payday Lending Roundtable with religious leaders and lawmakers to discuss the impact predatory payday and small-dollar lending practices are having in communities across America. She also sent a letter to universities and retirement plans to divest their interests in payday lenders.

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