Efforts to bar Missouri payday lenders from accepting payments for utility bills have been dealt a setback.
Opponents of the practice say utility customers who pay their bills at payday lending stores are vulnerable to taking out high-interest loans at the same time.
The opponents want Missouri's Public Service Commission to ban the practice. The PSC regulates utilities.
But The Kansas City Star reports the PSC staff has concluded there's no evidence of consumers being harmed by paying utility bills at payday loan shops.
The staff also said it's unclear that the commission has the authority to ban the practice.
