The Business of Lending Money to Strangers
Your Competitor Already Read This Morning's Issue.
The free briefing for people who lend money to strangers at 90% to 600% APR and intend to make a profit doing it. Written by a guy who still funds loans.
Here's the truth about most lending newsletters.
They are written by people who have never watched a borrower's $250 ACH bounce on a Friday afternoon.
They recycle LinkedIn fluff. They run "ten tips for success." They quote a CFPB press release two weeks after your attorney already called you about it.
Worst of all, half of them are a vendor pitch wearing an insight costume.
This one is written by a guy who owns subprime loan stores, runs a Dallas lending operation, and still takes the collections calls.
I read the filings, the state bulletins, the earnings calls, and the vendor decks so you do not have to. Then I tell you what is real, what is risky, what is overhyped, and what is going to cost you money if you miss it.
What landed in subscriber inboxes this month.
Real subject lines from the last 30 days. Not a promise of what might show up someday.
- Texas just rewrote the CAB rulebook. You have until November 5.
- World Acceptance Lost 5.4% of Its Customers. Profit Jumped $10.4 Million.
- Your Next Borrower Already Has 5 Lenders. None of Them Have a Storefront.
- 28 Collectors in an Hour. Great. Did Anybody Pay?
- Pawn Loans Are Booming. Consumer Financing Is Struggling. What Does That Tell Us About the American Borrower?
- Your Borrower Makes $4,000 a Month. So What?
If one of those made you want to click, you already know whether this list is for you.
What you get. What you don't.
In every issue
- What is making money now. Payday, car title, installment, lines of credit, storefront, online. Pricing, demand shifts, loan economics.
- The machinery. Customer acquisition, underwriting, fraud, bank and employment verification, collections, payment processing, loan management systems, KPIs.
- Regulatory heat before it lands on your desk. Texas CAB, state rate caps, licensing, CFPB moves, enforcement patterns.
- My blunt take. Real. Risky. Overhyped. Needs your attention today.
- Subscriber-only pricing on my playbooks, eBooks, and operating tools.
Never
- A vendor pitch disguised as analysis.
- Recycled LinkedIn motivation.
- "Ten tips" from somebody who has never funded a consumer loan.
- Generic finance articles about 401(k)s and mortgage rates.
- Your email address sold, rented, or shared. Ever.
Who is on this list.
Operators. Payday, car title, installment, line of credit, storefront and online lenders, Texas CAB and CSO operators. People with portfolios, employees, and a bank line to protect.
People about to become operators. Buying a store. Launching online. Raising capital. Deciding whether this business is for them before the first dollar leaves the account.
The people lenders pay. Attorneys, processors, LMS providers, lead companies, collectors, data vendors, capital sources, investors.
If you make money when lenders make money, you belong here.
Three reasons people hesitate.
"I'm not a lender yet."
Good. Read this for six months before you write a check. It is the cheapest education you will get in this industry, and it will save you from at least one expensive mistake.
"I'm a vendor, not an operator."
Then you need to know what lenders actually buy, what they ignore, and why. Most vendors guess. You will not have to.
"I don't have time for another email."
Three minutes. The subject line tells you whether to open it. Skip the ones that do not apply to you. The one that does will pay for all the rest.
Who writes it.
Jer Ayles. 20+ years in payday, installment, car title, Texas CAB/CSO, and tribal lending. I own subprime loan stores, run a Dallas lending operation, and consult for lenders, investors, and entrepreneurs through Trihouse Consulting.
I grew up poor. I know exactly who walks into a loan store on the 28th of the month and why. That is why I defend access to credit, and why I have zero patience for people who confuse hype with help.
I read every message. Reply to any issue and it lands in my inbox, not an assistant's.
Get the next issue.
Not ready to hand over an email? Fine. Start at the home page or read the blog and come back when you are.
The market does not care what you don't know.
It just bills you for it.