The payday-lending industry's plan to educate borrowers and "help customers who have trouble making payments on short-term loans" is too little, too late.

The Associated Press reported in Thursday's Star that the industry is facing pressure from consumer groups and lawmakers, such as Arizona's Legislature, to enact substantial reforms that protect borrowers. This announcement is a nifty public-relations move from the payday lending trade association, but it does not provide real reform.

The lenders pepper Tucson street corners with signs announcing fast money that can end up costing a borrower an annual interest rate of 400 percent or more. The lender advances the borrower cash for a fee that must be repaid in two weeks or so, or when the borrower gets his or her next paycheck. Can't pay it back? The loan is rolled over, and over, and over.

Soon the borrower can be buried in debt so deep that the possibility of climbing out is almost insurmountable. Arizona borrowers are not supposed to have more than one payday loan; however, there is no registry and it is easy for a borrower to go from corner to corner, getting loans at one payday lender to repay the other.

It's a vicious cycle that must be stopped, and the industry's idea of a $10 million national advertising campaign telling folks that a payday loan should not be considered a long-term financial solution is not enough.

We like the industry's idea to ban ads that promote payday advances for "frivolous purposes." We found several holiday-themed ads — get a payday loan and give your child a wonderful Christmas — repulsive and feeding into potential borrowers' insecurities.

Another of the steps offered by the trade association that represents about half of the nation's payday lenders is an "extended payment plan" that would give customers more time to repay the loan.

These are positive ideas, but they're not enough. Our lawmakers must make state substantial reforms, which include clamping down on triple-digit interest-rates and a registry that would prohibit members of our community from taking out multiple payday loans.

For Southern Arizonans in financial trouble, there is help available. The Don't Borrow Trouble hot line at 792-3087 can offer advice and steer members of our community to agencies that can help them get their financial house in order.