<i>Perhaps a better alternative would be a general credit line available to all Americans managed by the CFPB. The credit limit would be rather small, in the low hundreds, but would be higher for citizens with better credit scores.</i><p>This solves nothing - the people who are generally signing up for payday loans almost certainly don&#x27;t have great credit. (If they did, they&#x27;d be a lot more likely to be able to get a real loan or put the short term needs on a card)<p>And as I put my anecdata hat on: There&#x27;s plenty of competition among payday lenders. I live in what barely qualifies for a city, and there are at least 10 different outfits within about 5 minutes drive, some standalone, some pawn shops.