Many take pass on Quick Assist loans

Getting the cash is quick but, so far, the response to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society’s $300 loan program has been slow.

Pacific offices anticipated big crowds when the Quick Assist Loan program, or QAL, went worldwide Jan. 23, after a successful pilot program saw 75 percent jumps in loan traffic at eight test locations.

QAL is a “no questions asked,” interest-free $300 loan available to some active-duty Navy or Marine Corps personnel. Qualified servicemembers download the online application and bring it with their identification and last Leave and Earning Statement to one of the 53 full-service NMCRS locations, where a check will be cut in about 15 minutes.

Yokosuka saw 13 QAL customers in the first week — a good showing, but lower than expected, branch director Andrea Bowen said Wednesday.

“We thought we’d be really busy at first and then it would slow down,” Bowen said. Advertising of QAL has been aggressive, she said, but “maybe people still don’t know about it.”

The alternative, she added, is that “maybe there isn’t a huge need here — and that’s a good thing.”

Loans are offered in five categories: basic living expenses, such as housing, utilities, food and clothing; family emergencies; medical expenses; dental expenses; and vehicle/transportation expenses. One of the category boxes must be checked on the application, but no specifics are needed. Servicemembers must repay the QAL within 10 months and can get a maximum of two QALs a year. Only active-duty sailors and Marines without alerts or outstanding loans with NMCRS are eligible.

The “ease of use” is geared to keep servicemembers away from payday lenders who target them, said Andrea Tatayon, the Okinawa branch director. One such lender has set up shop outside Camp Foster’s gates, but payday lending still isn’t the problem in Japan that it is stateside, she said.

“We’ve seen a couple of payday loans, but not many,” Tatayon said. “What I like about QAL is that the servicemember isn’t losing a lot of time — they can be in and out in 15 minutes.”
The Camp Foster branch has seen 10 QAL customers — not the “mass
amounts” of people they’d hoped for, she added.

source:http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52084