To hear the customers filtering in and out of the Amscot office on 34th Street S, Gibbons' Amscot Financial is a welcome and convenient service.

"It's clean, they're always friendly and it's easy,'' said Sandra Hall, a St. Petersburg office clerk, after cashing a check and getting the free Tootsie Rolls that come with every transaction. "If they weren't here, I'd probably go to a liquor store to do this."

But consumer advocates say Gibbons is part of an industry that preys on cash-strapped Americans and sucks them into a crushing cycle of debt.

The reality of payday loans seems to be less nefarious than critics describe but not as benign as Amscot suggests.

(Story here)

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