Online Lenders Alliance- OLA!
Online lending has revolutionized the loan industry, specifically the online payday loan industry. Now that
people don't need to have a payday lender nearby to get an advance on their paycheck, payday lenders have
gained access to a whole new online customer. However, as with the birth of any online, store, product, or
service, "fake" payday loan sites began to pop up around the world, promising hundreds of Americans instant
access to cash by providing these companies with valuable personal and banking information. However, when the
cash advance was never received, customers realized they were being
"cyber-robbed", because these "fake" companies only posed as a payday lender to gain access to their private
data to produce stolen identities as well as make unauthorized withdrawals from individual's bank accounts.
The negative impact that came about from these "fake" payday loan sites became so tremendous that in 2005,
all of the legitimate online payday lenders decided to form OLA or the Online Lenders Alliance, to combat
these "fake" sites and launch consumer awareness efforts on how to access payday loans from TRUSTED and REAL
payday lenders online and made industry-wide efforts to purge and expose these "fake" lenders.
Members of OLA are all bound by a code of conduct or
list of best practices to ensure consumers are fully informed and fairly treated when accepting an online
payday loan. OLA's mission is to continue to debunk all of the myths and negative press surrounding this
industry. Through federal and state lobbying efforts, OLA has combined powers with
CFSA to create public and government awareness about the necessity of payday loans.