The ads make it sound so simple: a few minutes spent on a website, or a couple of quick swipes on your phone, that unexpected bill has been dealt with, and your worries are over.
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But so-called payday loans are usually the beginning of fresh financial woes, not the resolution of existing ones.
According to a study released this month, the payday loan business is booming in Australia.
These loans - usually of amounts of up to $2000 - can have interest rates of more than 400 per cent, yet figures released by the Stop the Debt Trap Alliance show that as many as 30,000 loans are approved each week.
Payday loans are designed to take advantage of society's most vulnerable. The people most likely to need this type of loan are also the people least likely to be easily able to repay it.
The amount borrowed in Australia on these loans is on track to be worth $1.7 billion by the end of the year, according to Stop the Debt Trap, a national coalition of more than 20 consumer advocacy organisations.
Stop the Debt Trap is calling on the government to take action, arguing that the companies providing these loans profit by entrenching Australians in a cycle of debt, limiting their ability to participate actively in the economy and use their money to pay rent, feed their kids or keep the lights on.
It's hard not to agree with this view.
Payday loans are designed to take advantage of society's most vulnerable. The people most likely to need this type of loan are also the people least likely to be easily able to repay it.
People trying to live on a modest income are going to be hit hardest by an unexpected bill.
We all know the costs of living are increasing, but wages growth has been modest. People relying on Centrelink payments are facing an even tougher time.
Back in 2016, the federal government promised to crack down on the payday loan sector, but as yet has not done anything about it. The government made the promise after an independent review, which confirmed payday loans were being handed to low-income and vulnerable Australians who couldn't really afford them.
With Christmas coming, a lot of people remain at risk of financial pain because this sector has not yet been reined in.