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Cash Central Review: Texas Payday Loans |
| Sign up for Cash Central | |
Rating: |
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| Good BBB score and repeat borrowing incentives are pluses, but privacy policy could be more customer-friendly; 15% off with coupon code | |
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[Editor's Note: CashCentral is offering an exclusive offer to NextAdvisor readers: 15% off loan fees. Simply follow any CashCentral link on our site, and enter coupon code CJ15DEC11.]
Payday loans are a popular way for people to get much-needed short-term cash until their next pay date. One of those companies offering payday loans in Texas is CashCentral, a Utah-based company that makes loans in many states, and operates in Texas as a registered CSO (Credit Service Organization). In this roll it connects consumers seeking short term loans with a third party lender. All this is behind the scenes, however, and you'll only interact with CashCentral throughout the loan process. CashCentral's website isn't a beauty, but all the information is where you need it, including multiple points of contact. Customer service is available 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Friday, and 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday (Mountain Standard Time). Our call was picked up quickly, and our representative was friendly. We liked that they did not ask immediately for our personal information the way some other loan companies did. We don't particularly like that CashCentral does not display information on opting out of information sharing with affiliates and other companies. Most payday loan companies that we've reviewed offer some information on their opt-out policy. This didn't bother us much when we reviewed CashCentral for California payday loans, given the protections that California residents have against spam, but it seems like a bigger deal here. The loan application runs across three sections. You'll be asked for all your vitals such as name, employer, social security number, and address. As with other CSOs offering payday advances, they won't run a credit check but they will run a check on your bank account, such as when you pay by check at a retail store. They also offer incentives to repeat borrowers such as 15% off the fees on your sixth loan with the company, and 10% off the fees on additional loans. The fees in Texas are generally pretty high, however, and anyone taking out this many loans should be aware of just how much they're spending on advances. Once you sign up you'll receive an email stating whether or not your application was accepted, and what the terms are. If you accept, the money will be electronically deposited in your account. In Texas, you have three days after accepting to cancel your loan without penalty. CashCentral advertises a fee of $25.38 per $100.00 that you borrow. That includes the interest charged by the financial institution (legally capped at 10%) and CashCentral's service fee. Calculated as an APR that would be 661.79% (a number they are required to disclose). However if you use our 15% coupon code of CJ15DEC11 your fee is reduced to $21.57 and the APR to 562.36%. Of course, you're paying it off over a shorter period: 35 days or your next pay period, whichever is first (unless your pay period is less than seven days away). Texas law allows for CSOs to charge a 5% (or $7.50) penalty on payments that are more than 10-days past due. You can refinance your loan up to four times if you contact CashCentral before 5:45 PM MST the banking day before it's due. You will have to pay the cash advance fee, and will be responsible for paying the same fee again on your next pay day along with the original loan amount. Keep in mind this means you'll have paid over over $50.00 in interest on a $100.00 loan, so we advise customers against it. CashCentral was given the grade of B from the Better Business Bureau. This is the second highest scoring of the CSOs we reviewed. While this is a good sign, and something that matches our experience with their customer service, we do wish the information sharing section of their privacy policy agreement was a bit more customer friendly. Sign up for Cash Central | Compare to Other Texas Payday Lenders |
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| Loan Range: | $100.00 to $1500.00 |
| Advertised fee per $100*: | $21.57 (After 15% discount with coupon code: CJ15DEC11) |
| Advertised APR (14-day loan)**: | 562.36% |
| Max Loan Period (based on pay period): | 35 days |
| Registered Texas CSO: | Yes |
| BBB Score***: | B |
** APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is provided for comparison purposes to other forms of debt. Amount is calculated by multiplying interest and fees for an average 14-day loan period over the entire year. See FAQ for more details.
*** Better Business Bureau rating as of 01/01/2011
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