Law and order? Associations between payday lending prohibition and alternative financial services use by degree of enforcement

Abstract

Sixteen jurisdictions in the United States prohibit payday lending through stringent usury laws or well-established nonprofitable 36% interest rate caps. Yet over one in 10 consumers residing in these jurisdictions borrowed payday loans in the past 5 years. This raises questions about actual policy implementation and enforcement. We employ data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study to investigate if associations between payday lending prohibitions and payday borrowing differ by degree of enforcement. We find that nuances in degree of enforcement among restrictive states are not associated with payday borrowing likelihoods. However, these nuances appear when examining payday borrowing frequency, particularly when controlling for consumers' financial circumstances and when conditioning on alternative financial services consumers. We consistently note the highest borrowing behaviors for states sans regulation. Policymakers may consider strengthening enforcement in cases where the primary goal is preventing or reducing payday borrowing.