But after seeing borrowers being destroyed by these loans, many states, according to the study, have in recent years either prohibited payday lending or put new limits on it.
Regulations allow records of paid-off loans to be destroyed after five or six years.
It is classified but based on previous estimations, Athens could be demanding as much as 162bn euros (£137bn; $213bn 108bnbn euros for destroyed infrastructure and 54bn for the loan.
It estimated the claim at up to €162bn: that is, €108bn for destroyed infrastructure and €54bn for the forced loan.
Like big banks, institutions that make these small loans can be damaged or destroyed by financial crises or by fraud.
But issuing those types of loans created a housing mess and destroyed middle-class wealth like nothing has in decades.
Hey, it's not like the government is keeping the banks afloat with trillions of dollars in direct aid and loan guarantees, all because the industry nearly destroyed itself trading poorly understood new financial products.
"The thieves, crooks and those who destroyed the country and sold it off to foreign loan sharks are those who should stand trial," said Ilias Kasidiaris, a Golden Dawn spokesman and one of the lawmakers stripped of immunity from prosecution.
Like New Century, Accredited saw its profits destroyed by soaring default rates and falling demand for new loans.
And both homeowners and renters may be eligible for loans of up to $40,000 for damage or destroyed personal property.
