The Pew Charitable Trusts released a report, which relied on a nationwide survey of borrowers, focus groups and data obtained from numerous sources, that concludes that fraud and abuse are widespread in the Internet market, American Banker reported today. Pew, which has released three previous reports about payday lending, is a sharp critic of both online and storefront lenders. But the most recent report focuses on ways in which online lenders are different from brick-and-mortar stores. Among Pew's findings: nine out of 10 Better Business Bureau complaints about payday lenders involve online operators, even though online loans only make up about one-third of the total market; 30 percent of online borrowers report being threatened by a lender or debt collector; and online payday loans typically have annual percentage rates of 650 percent.
