The Dailypay app: Making it even more expensive to be poor!

 

I guess it was really only a matter of time before the wonderful world of Payday Loans went high tech.  Here we've got a Really Ought to be Sad woman who can "afford" to fill her tank up with gas because she can get her paycheck "any time she wants" by using the "free" Dailypay app.  In other words, she can keep spending money even after her paycheck has been used up by borrowing on her next paycheck. 

It's just a Payday Loan.  I mean, how can this not be obvious to everyone?

I did a little research, and discovered something about as surprising as finding fat people at McDonald's. Turns out that while the Dailypay app is, technically, "free," the amount of money you can "advance" yourself is very limited unless you are willing to include "tips" along with your "advance" (unsecured loan) request.  The most common "suggested tip" is 9% for every one hundred dollars "advanced" (borrowed.)  Want to "access" your $1000 paycheck a day early?  No problem- it's just going to cost you $90.  You won't even notice, because you won't get a bill- it'll just get deducted from that $1000.  Easy Peezy, that's what Dailypay is all about, after all.  Well, that and convenience, anyway.

It's JUST A PAYDAY LOAN.  You aren't living within your means if you are willing to hand over a sizable chunk of your paycheck in order to get it a few days in advance.  And yes, in order to sign up for the "free" app you have to provide all kinds of information beyond your name- your address, sex, age, information concerning your income and BANK ROUTING NUMBER which of course will be used to quickly (and conveniently!) put the money you want "advanced" into your account so you can fill that tank, never mind that you just handed really sensitive information to anonymous people operating a sleazy loan shark operation.  You got your gas money!

You can also transfer money for a "low flat fee" ($2.99 to $5.99) which far exceeds the transfer costs of Paypal, Venmo or any other service which caters to people who have credit cards and good credit scores.  Telling me that Dailypay is going to be really popular among those people who use Green Dot Cards, Money Orders and Pawn Shops to get along month to month.  So I guess if you have a Smart Phone, you've got a quick loan to help you gloss over the fact that you're drowning in this awesome, "recovering" economy.  But seriously, woman, you don't have to be so nonchalant about the fact that you technically don't have to make your money last paycheck to paycheck because you can use your phone to take out a high-interest loan.  I'd rather you be at least a LITTLE sad about this instead of acting like this is all just no big deal and Life is Good.