Recent research suggests that payday lenders are marketing directly to consumers who are seeking financial help due to the pandemic; both Google and Facebook have been removing ads and blocking companies on their platforms; some lenders are advertising that consumers can cash their stimulus checks and receive the funds in minutes, all for a fee; rates on payday loans were as high as 521% in one example; in some cases the ads weren’t directly advertising loans but the ads directed to a page which subsequently offered payday loans; the WSJ digs further into the current state of the payday lending industry. The Wall Street Journal