Nineteen states prohibit pay-day lending outright, usually as the result of longstanding usury laws.

ECONOMIST: Consumer finance

Usury laws restricted the availability of credit to those who needed it most.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Often varying by state, usury laws specify the maximum legal interest rate that may be charged for a loan arrangement.

FORBES: Ponzi Scheme Victims May Owe Triple Damages For Usury In Clawback Lawsuits - A New Tool In Ponzi Scheme Litigation?

Originally designed to target loan sharks charging exorbitant interest rates, the use of usury laws have since expanded to encompass a wider variety of transactions.

FORBES: Ponzi Scheme Victims May Owe Triple Damages For Usury In Clawback Lawsuits - A New Tool In Ponzi Scheme Litigation?

It took centuries for usury laws to disappear in Europe.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Little South Dakota agreed to get rid of its usury laws, and Citibank, by exploiting a loophole in federal law, set up its card operations there and was able to evade usury laws throughout the nation.

FORBES: Magazine Article

While clawbacks are especially popular in larger Ponzi schemes where investor losses often dwarf available assets, a new tactic has emerged in several recent cases seeking to use criminal and civil usury laws to maximize clawback recoveries.

FORBES: Ponzi Scheme Victims May Owe Triple Damages For Usury In Clawback Lawsuits - A New Tool In Ponzi Scheme Litigation?

Senator Sanders says that usury laws work.

FORBES: Over the Limit

Banking developed in Florence because of the ingenious development of bills of exchange, first as a way of paying debts without having to transport cash, then as a means of evading the church's usury laws, and finally as a means of extending credit.

ECONOMIST: Renaissance Florence