COLUMBUS (AP) - More than 300,000 Ohioans are trapped in a cycle of debt to payday lenders and are paying more than $318 million in payday loan fees each year, said a report released Wednesday. Studies have shown the average payday borrower uses more than one payday lending company annually, making the average number of loans likely higher than the 7. The Ohio Financial Services Association, which represents payday lenders, contested the report’s data because it estimated Ohio lending using information from four publicly traded payday companies and statistics from other states. If customers cannot pay off the amount of a loan plus an associated fee within two weeks, they often reborrow from the same payday lender or go to a different payday company to take out a loan to pay off the first loan. read more

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