Mr. Speaker, I remember being the chair of the finance committee when we were talking about bank amalgamations. This matter came up at that time during the course of those discussions. As the member well knows, this is not directly relevant to this discussion on the payday loan bill.
However, the Bank Act itself has the sets of notice provisions. I know that they were followed in each and every case where banks made that business decision to cut. We, in all parties, were concerned and made our representations. I know in my own city I made my representations when a bank and a trust company merged together.
However, we do have to understand that the banking industry is a regulated industry and that there was no branch closing that was not done properly by regulation. Nobody got to shortcut any provisions in the Bank Act. In fact, many worked very hard to give the protections as best they could to all the employees in the areas.
Having said that, I do want to comment on the availability of the small time situation on a payday loan. We should not be confusing a small amount of loan, which would be done in a banking institution, with a payday loan. There is a difference. It is a small sum. There is no security given.
I am told the average payday loan is around $280 for a period of 10 days. It is an advance of cash against the customer's next payday. It is not a form of revolving credit. That is not what this is supposed to be. In fact, those things are among the practices, those roll-overs, that we are seeking to get rid of by instituting some of the protection that is in this current bill.
It is more designed for that one time unanticipated expense where somebody just needs help to get over a short trying period. It is not a payday loan, a long term credit project, nor is it a title loan; by that I mean a loan secured by a title to a property or an asset, such as a motor vehicle.
I am told that payday loan customers are Canadians with near median household incomes and the statistics provided by the Canadian Payday Loan Association puts 53% being women and 47% being men.
It is important to say that to qualify for a payday loan a customer has to be employed and have a chequing account. So it is not really preying at a level that I see a lot of concern.