“What happens to these people is they turn to online lenders and then they get into more trouble,” Olson said. “There’s really no way to regulate those [online] companies on a consistent basis.”
The lack of oversight of online lenders is a national issue of concern for consumer advocates. More than a erica published a report called, “Internet Payday Lending: How high-priced lenders use the internet to mine borrowers in debt and evade state consumer protections.”
One big problem is that online payday lenders legally gain access to borrower bank and credit union accounts, and can make deductions without explanation.
“Payday loans made online combine the negative aspects of storefront payday loans … with the additional problems of jurisdictional and applicable law, security and privacy risks,” the report concluded. ”
Afdahl said the state banking division tries to watch out for unscrupulous online lenders and occasionally hears from residents who are concerned about the validity of online companies.
Unlike the former storefront payday lending sites, where regulators could pay a visit to a lender and look at their books, online lenders are hard to regulate because they are often based in other states, countries or on sovereign tribal lands, Afdahl said.
“There’s thousands of those things, so it’s kind of the whack-a-mole deal,” Afdahl said. “There’s no way to put a gate up at the state line that says you need to get our license here before you make a loan in South Dakota. The location and sheer volume of online lenders makes it difficult for South Dakota to monitor the industry, even to be sure they are licensed to do business in the state, which is required and makes them subject to state laws including IM 21.