Loan sharks actually charge less than those companies, from what I hear.

They have the same thing in the USA. Payday loans. They forward you $100, then when you get paid 2 weeks later you pay them back $115. $15 on $100 is an APR of 390%, but EAR of 3,685%. Crazy when you think about it. Someone that is regularly taking those loans is nothing but 2 weeks behind on expenses. Just 2 weeks. If they were any further behind, they couldn't pay those payday loans back. So for being 2 weeks behind on expenses, they are getting 15% cut out of every single one of their paychecks. Crazy.

In DC they capped the APR% at 24%, which is the max any other loan/credit place can charge. All of the places went out of business and there are currently no payday loan companies in DC.

Some of the new financial regulation that is getting put in place from Obama's big financial bill is going to cover that sort of stuff, but not that much.