Usury was originally a biblical term. This makes it a very powerful word for many people. The Jews coined the word usury and it meant lending money at any rate of interest to another Jew was condemned, but you could lend money to outsiders.
This term being associated the bible is influencing people that are “on the fence” so to speak about payday lending. People need to stop interpretting the Bible incorrectly b/c it’s very powerful.
Here is the full article by Marc Kilmer titled ‘Usury’ misused in lending debate . Marc Kilmer is a policy analyst with the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a research and educational institute located in Columbus.