Welcome to Care More Be Better, a podcast for people like you who care about the social impact of conscious companies and everyday heroes.

Hear inspiring stories from those who put people in planet before profit and personal gain.

You'll learn how you can make a difference. Vote with your dollars and get involved today.

Here's your host, Karina Belizey.

Hello, fellow do-goaters and friends.

I'm your host, Karina Belizzi, an activist and cause marketer who's passionate about social impact and sustainability.

In our trailer episode, I mentioned that I would be talking about advances in financial technology.

But as I dug into the subject, I found myself entering one wormhole of research after another.

So I put off the topic until I could bring an expert on the show to talk about the complex issues related to payday lending and earned wage access.

Like me, you may have seen the last

week tonight show with John Oliver that dove into the reality of payday lending practices

and how they create a cyclic problem of debt that can last a generation. If you haven't,

I encourage you to watch it. You can find the episode on YouTube, even if you don't have HBO.

The resounding message that you'll hear is that the need for payday lending and payday loans is real in today's America.

Particularly during this COVID-19 pandemic, when so many have unexpected expenses and unexpected changes in the hours they can work.

Are you ready for some sobering statistics?

Now, here's where some of the research led me.

Payday loans are considered unsecured, short-term personal loans,

and commonly charge an equivalent APR of 300 to 700%. Now imagine that if that was a credit card or some sort of

other revolving debt. Well, essentially, that's what ends up happening to people when they take

out a payday loan if they can't repay it. They are seen as predatory because they target the

working poor and often those with the worst credit.

...