Contact: Maren Hurley-Matz, New Economy Project, maren@neweconomyproject.org
“EWA apps make payday loans. Arizona voters have already said no to payday lending because it is a loan product intentionally designed to trap working families in endless debt. No means no,” said Kelly Griffith, Executive Director of the Southwest Center for Economic Integrity.
“Stop Taking Our Pay” Coalition unites groups from 21 states where payday lending is illegal to oppose federal bill that would shield payday loan apps from state laws
Today, two dozen community, labor, and faith-based organizations, along with community development credit unions, from 21 states where payday lending is categorically illegal announced the launch of the Stop Taking Our Pay (STOP) Coalition to confront so-called “earned wage access” (EWA) payday loans. The coalition is taking aim at the rapidly expanding EWA industry, which has drained billions of dollars in predatory fees from workers’ paychecks in recent years.
The announcement comes as the House Financial Services Committee is set to vote on the so-called Earned Wage Access Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 9330) Tuesday. Despite its name, the bill would do the opposite: create a federal safe harbor for EWA payday lenders and strip states of their ability to regulate these products under their own lending, usury, and consumer protection laws. Alarmingly, the bill would allow EWA companies to sidestep state usury laws, which cap interest rates and effectively ban payday lending in 21 states and Washington, D.C.
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