Pay day loan customers are "intelligent" and work hard in order to "maximize their paychecks" and organize their finances.

At least that is the opinion of the director of public relations (PR) at Ohio-based Check 'n Go, Jeff Kursman, who claims that responsible pay day loan lenders provide an important service to American people.

His comments are reported in the Anniston Star and are in response to an editorial run by the newspaper that Mr Kursman describes as an "unfair assessment" of the short-term loan industry.

Highlighting the benefits of this method of borrowing, the PR director states that consumers' financial options would be "severely restricted" without pay day loans, as well as being more costly.

"In 2007 alone, 19 million US households used pay day advances to fill immediate short-term financial needs," he indicates, adding that the sector has grown due to "consumer demand for credit options".

Pay day loans are also rising in popularity on the other side of the Atlantic, with price comparison website MoneySupermarket.com claiming the product is being used 55 percent more in the UK than it was in September 2007.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------