Electricity Provider Severs Ties with Payday Loan Company
UniSource Energy Services, the electricity provider in Nogales, has announced plans to eliminate the option for customers to pay in cash at ACE Cash Express locations.
The decision has nothing to do with economics, convenience or cost cutting. Instead, the company is trying to protect its most vulnerable clients, said Joe Salkowski, the public information officer for the utility company. It wants to distance itself from this instant payday loan chain.
“We’ve had conversations with our friends in the low-income advocacy group about directing our customers to make payments where extremely high-interest loans are available,” Salkowski said. “In recognition of those concerns we’re going to look for another way, (in which customers may pay.)”
While the majority of customers pay online or with checks, some people do not have bank accounts and can pay only in cash. In Nogales, those people can go directly to the UniSource office, but for those who live elsewhere the only option was to pay at the aforementioned payday loan company.