Many low-income Americans were wary of banks even before the latest round of failures and takeovers. Is a semi-reformed payday lender the right guy to bring the urban poor into the banking system?

A 1999 state law allowing so-called payday lenders to charge high fees for short-term loans violates the State Constitution, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled.

Lawmakers in some states are looking to sharply reduce the caps on annual interest rates for payday lenders, as the industry is attempting to put the issue on the ballot.