The payday loan industry has been providing short-term personal loans to consumers for over two decades. However, as the industry grew to offer more than $40 billion in payday loans annually, its community outreach program was disproportionate to its growth. Now the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) is remedying this deficiency.

CFSA is the largest payday advance lending trade organization in America. Currently, it represents more than half of all cash advance loan lenders in the nation, as such engenders confidence of the fast cash loan industry. The trade organization has grown in influence and is the main spokesman for payday lending.

Recently, the merits of personal loans have met with resistance by some consumer groups and states. To counter the actions of personal loan opponents, the CFSA has enhanced its efforts through a marketing outreach campaign.

Historically, the payday industry has not placed emphasis on marketing outreach campaigns that targets the consumer directly through mass media channels. The industry wants to challenge the generic notions of critics by presenting the industry’s bona fides to the public directly through the community marketing outreach program.

The trade organization has spent millions on an education campaign on television making consumers aware of the industry’s new best practices. The Best Practices build upon an original set of practices rolled out in the year2000 and are intended to enhance the general public’s understanding of cash advance loans, online payday loans, and faxless payday advance.

Also, the CFSA has implemented new guidelines for its members to increase transparency and confidence in payday loans. The members are required to display payday advance interest rates, finance fees, and penalties on a prominently placed signage of regulation height and width. These actions by the industry finally build upon the sentiments of the CFSA that it strives for transparency in the loan application process, and that it wants to alleviate any public misconceptions about the industry.

The media marketing campaign on television stars real-life payday loan consumers. The campaign is meant to highlight the real face of fast cash loans, the face of millions of loan borrowers. Complementing the TV ads on CNN, ESPN, Fox News, TNT, and Headline News are Print ads in the newspaper USA Today. The multi-million dollar campaign incorporates several mass mediums, including TV, print, radio, and online advertising.

The industry hopes that the outreach marketing campaign gets the message out to the public, that the industry is committed to transparent responsible lending.