In South Dakota, for instance, a citizen-led referendum in 2014 led to the passage of a 36% annual interest rate cap for financial products sold in the state. Title lenders stopped doing business there, but new credit lenders stepped in, and consumers ended up with more choice and lower interest rates, according to a four-year economic study conducted by the Center for Responsible Lending. “The only group that lost in this scenario were the title lenders,” said Steve Hinkey, a South Dakota pastor who as a then-Republican lawmaker spearheaded the referendum.
