County Bank To Leave Payday Loan Industry

Historical archive, first published 2005 — payday-lending laws and rates have changed since. Preserved for the record.

Rehoboth Beach, DE — County Bank is ending its eight-year involvement in the industry of payday advances. Harold L. Slatcher, president of the Rehoboth Beach, Delaware-based bank, said Tuesday that the bank will end all partnerships with payday lenders by the end of next month.

"This is 100 percent our decision," said Slatcher, who helped found the bank in 1990. "At no time did the FDIC ask us to get out of this business, nor did we cave in to pressure from the activists."