Personal Money Store is not a lender itself. However, it does provide a free service that matches borrowers with lenders. This provides a unique look into the inner workings of the sub prime lending industry. There are a few reports below which may or may not mean anything to you. We will help you draw conclusions based on the lending statistical data below the graphs.

Locations Specifically Targeted By Personal Money Store

Chicago, Fort Worth, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Tampa, United Kingdom

City Populations That Actually Apply Online with Personal Money Store

90 Day History of Personal Money Store’s Trends

City Population for 2007 Courtesy of Infoplease.com

Note: Sample data was drawn from 175,892 visitors from these 10 cities in the last ninety days. It should be noted that the majority of the visitors were to the financial news blog part of the site and not the section just for people who want a payday loan or cash advance.

Interesting Conclusions About Personal Money Store’s Trends

The people who visit Personal Money Store are not always from the locations that were specifically targeted. It just goes to show that you can’t always predict who your customers or clients will be. It is always wise to listen to statistical data to find out who really likes your business and who doesn’t and why.

New York Statistical Inferences

Almost 1% of New York City’s population has visited Personal Money Store in the last 90 days.

Of those who apply, New Yorkers are the most impatient and have a higher rate of leaving the site before completing an application. (Could just be haten on our style though! )

Compared to other cities whose visitors complete an application, New Yorkers have an average chance of getting their loan approved. This is significant because New York has very strict lending laws which many lenders shy away from.

Atlanta Loves Personal Money Store

Almost 3% of Atlanta’s population has visited in the last 90 days.

Visitors from Atlanta have the second highest percentage of getting a loan approved in the United States relative to population.

Not trivial is the fact that compared to other cities Atlanta has the second lowest application completion to application funded rate. That means there are a lot of people applying who get denied. The reason for this is Georgia has very strict lending laws that prevent approvals. (Sorry to our friends in Georgia! )

Houston Residents Love to Apply on Personal Money Store

Almost 1% of Houston’s population has visited in the last 90 days.

Texans from Houston seem more patient than New Yorkers and relative to population complete almost twice as many applications. Of the visitors who do not exit the site, people from Houston are almost 3 times more likely to apply for a payday loan or cash advance than New Yorkers. (Bigger is better and for us, the more applications the better! )

Compared to the rest of the country, people in Houston have an average chance of getting approved for a loan.

Sub Prime Lenders Love Chicago

Chicago is about average on all statistics except the most important one. Applicants from Chicago have a higher than average chance of getting approved for a loan. (These statistics seem to defy job market statistics. )

Washington DC Residents and Lenders are a Match Made in a Pot of Gold

Close to 2% of DC Residents have visited in the last 90 days.

People in DC have less than average patience with Personal Money Store and leave the site before applying. (Probably haten on our style also! )

Out of all the residents in DC .03% have actually applied for a loan on Personal Money Store.

About .0065% of people from a computer located in Washington DC have been approved for a loan through Personal Money Store. That is the highest approval rate in the nation, based on relative population statistics.

Outstandingly, Washington DC residents who apply for a payday loan or cash advance have about a 21% chance of getting approved. That is an insane number that is higher than Phoenix and Los Angeles. (People from DC, we love you! )

Statistics Can Be Fun

We have left out many conclusions that can be drawn from this data. We thought it would be fun to share this information and make a few jokes. We are not attempting to make any factual statements about the attitudes or values of any people in any city. We hope you have fun making your own judgments and conclusions. Feel free to make a statement below and join the conversation. (As long as you’re not a hater! )

It is distressingly common for the media to paint a story of sensationalism when it comes to payday loan companies. Accuracy is the first casualty in their efforts at fear-mongering, and what incentive do they have to present information in a clear-headed fashion? Tales of a dark, trenchcoated villain, twirling a waxed handlebar mustache, plotting the ruin of consumer after helpless consumer with a seductive cycle of debt. It makes for a nice little Vaudevillian melodrama. It makes for good copy, as corny as it sounds.

But life defies such easy categorization. The same is true when it comes to the truth about customers who make use of a payday loan. Are they the poor and the downtrodden? Are no fax payday loan customers hopelessly addicted to loans and rollovers? Are they trapped in a debt bear trap and ready to chew off their own leg for more?

No. Payday loan customers stand on their own two feet

Faxless payday loan companies assist a clientele from all walks of life. But when the average customer profile (female and male) for a major lender that works with Personal Money Store is considered, it’s easy to see that the media horror stories represent a tiny minority of cases. Even things that nobody would argue are unhealthy – like water- can seem dangerous in the hands of a visible minority who happens to make the 11 o’clock news. Payday loans help the great majority of consumers who call upon them, and they do not create a cycle of perpetual debt. The proof is in the numbers – even though it doesn’t make for a juicy story for the Center for Responsible Lending or some other bank-sponsored interest group to crow about…

Who uses payday loans? I do. You do.

For anyone who has ever been in a short-term financial jam, speed, convenience and discretion are valuable watchwords when it comes to digging your way out. These are all things that a payday loan offers. Used responsibly, they don’t trap anyone in a vicious debt spiral. They are quite different from the revolving debt quagmire of credit cards, late fees and checking overdrafts. The truth doesn’t always make for entertaining news copy, but it’s still the truth. Look in a mirror and ask yourself if you would ever use a payday loan. The answer may not be as much of a surprise as you think.