Rebecca Flippo was the manager of a payday lending store owned by a chain in Virginia. When she heard about a debate on payday lending in the Virginia House of Delegates, after she had quit and found another job, she called her state representative and said, "it's worse than you think." After Rebecca appeared on a television newscast describing her insider's view of payday lending, we asked her to tell us her story in detail.
In this 4 minute video, Rebecca tells how payday loans are rarely two-week loans. Most of her customers came in payday after payday to renew the loan—after the first time, they couldn't afford to pay it off. Rebecca tells how she and her co-workers explained away the 400% interest rate, and how tough their collection tactics were. And she tells how she came to understand that rather than help her customers, these loans were "keeping them poor."
