It's easy to think payday loan shops are evil until you know someone who owns one. The people running them typically aren't getting rich off of it. A high percentage of loans don't get paid back. Fraud, forgery, and outright armed robbery are a constant threat. Your employees (who have to be willing to work in a place that will be robbed, at gunpoint, on a monthly basis) aren't much more savory than the customers, and theft amongst them is rampant.
Shit happens, and a lot of time when it happens to poor people, they have no alternative. It's sad that society is structured in such a way that they are forced to turn to a source of credit that charges them so much, but the payday loans do provide a valuable service.
In this particular case, we're talking about an online service, so no unscrupulous employees to get ripped off by or physical dangers to navigate. They also claim to be using advanced models for approving borrowers, and putting in place a bunch of methods to ensure higher payback. All of that implies lower risk, so why aren't the rates themselves significantly lower?
Shit happens, and a lot of time when it happens to poor people, they have no alternative. It's sad that society is structured in such a way that they are forced to turn to a source of credit that charges them so much, but the payday loans do provide a valuable service.