Based on a 2005 CRL report, customers in Idaho were charged more than $26 million in additional loan fees during that year, but the number of payday lenders in the state has grown considerably since that time. While both Gillis and Abeyta said they do not encourage customers to use payday loans as a long-term solution — and both offer at least some discount for early payoff — the Consumer Federation of America counters with data showing that 90 percent of payday loan revenues nationwide come from what it calls “trapped borrowers” who are forced to use the lender’s offer of rolling over a loan and paying additional fees. At 300 percent APR — far lower than the more than 500 percent annual interest payday lenders are allowed to charge under Idaho’s current regulation — the interest on a loan can exceed the principal in only four months. In Georgia and North Carolina, where payday lending was also banned, that the Federal Reserve Bank in New York found that bounced checks, personal bankruptcies and complaints about debt collectors jumped significantly when consumers no longer had the payday loan option. read more