subtext has recently learned of a payday loan firm, Smart-Pig.com (no, we don’t know either – piggy banks?), which caters to students and their unique financial calendars. We are sure that all readers of subtext will have an opinion on payday loans and their gargantuan interest rates and late payment fees. In the case of Smart-Pig.com, students can expect an interest rate of 0.8% per day, which is fairly good as far as payday lenders go, in the same way that there exists a tallest hobbit and a friendliest arsonist.
What concerns subtext is the fact that this firm is being advertised in the toilets of the Crafty Scholar, a pub in town. You can just imagine a college football captain on an impromptu night out, hollowing out his overdraft with reckless abandon and being too drunk to care. What do you do when you’ve just ordered a row of shots and twelve pints of lager, your card’s been declined, and there’s a poster on the wall promising you free money within seconds and a crew of thirsty footballers on the pull? Well, quite.
The subtext collective needn’t go into the dangers of payday loans, and hopes that the University and the SU will mount a campaign warning against them. The colleges and university house offer emergency loans with zero interest and flexible repayments. http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/student-based-services/money/funding/emergency-loans