Former Google CIO and VP of engineering Douglas Merrill has been fighting to reform high-cost Payday loans and bring reason to the American borrower. Read this statement from Merrill below and hear what he thinks about the situation:

“We believe all data should be credit data,” says Douglas Merrill, Founder and CEO of ZestCash. “By using ‘big data’ analytical techniques we are able to offer a fair, lower cost alternative to people who do not have access to traditional credit.”

The data-based underwriting Merrill refers to above takes more comprehensive factors into account when lending money and these loans actually help consumers credit situation.

ZestCash is offering Americans better loans based on Merrill’s beliefs. His company is lending borrowers between $300- $800 under more acceptable terms than previously offered to low-credit clients. ZestCash customers pick the amount, then adjust the duration accordingly to what small weekly payments they can afford, rather than lump sum payments like Payday loans requires. The result is more than 2/3 of the customers return to use the service again.

The company just announced that they have raised another $73 million to keep the ball rolling on these types of ventures. Reports from ZestCash say most customers are using the loans for unplanned auto expenses, medical bills, and other emerging household emergencies.

Douglas Merrill
(Photo: Google.com)

Digital Daily noted the Valentine’s Day, 2008, quote from Merrill, where he called his position at Google “the best job in the world.” He will take up a task with EMI to run their digital initiatives.

John Furrier picked up on Merrill’s see-ya email to Googlers. Furrier said Merrill will try to figure out what EMI can do to make its business models more relevant to modern times.

Merrill won’t despair for a lack of challenges. The music industry as a whole has suffered as fans increasingly opt to obtain music digitally rather than buying CDs. Blame the labels for setting themselves up for a fall; after years of getting burned with high-priced CD purchases containing one or two good songs, fans had no qualms about ditching plastic for MP3s.

The Google executive’s departure comes amid a steady stream of Google higher-ups streaming for the exits. Variations on the “seeking new challenges” theme occur regularly when people like Merrill and new Facebook hire Sheryl Sandberg depart.

For folks who were with Google long enough to watch their stock options turn into real wealth, there’s probably little motivation to doing the same old thing each day. Without such a financial cushion, does a Douglas Merrill opt to parachute into the decaying remains of the music label industry, we wonder.

As the Los Angeles Times cited, EMI has lost money and artists, and is in the middle of serious cost cutting. If Merrill manages even a modest turnaround that stops the red ink from flowing, it will be an improvement.