The patron leaving ACE Cash Express on South Cooper Street doesn't want to be identified, but he's otherwise comfortable discussing the fact that he's just borrowed $300 that he expects to pay back next paycheck. Or maybe over the next two or three paychecks.

For additional fees, of course.

"I think I may be the most profitable kind of customer that these guys have," he says, gesturing at the ACE Cash door with a weary expression. "A good, dependable slow pay."

The borrower -- we'll call him Ford because that's what he's driving -- tells it like it is.

"I've got a daughter in college who's even more broke than I am," Ford says. "I've got to send her a few bucks, plus it takes a $50 bill to put enough gas in this thing to keep it running all week."

He nods at his late-model pickup.

"It's got a 20-gallon tank. Gas at RaceTrac is $3 a gallon."

Ford is basically broke, his debt growing, his credit cards maxed out. But he's got a couple of resources that will guarantee short-term loans at most paycheck lenders: a regular job and a checking account.

The system at most such lenders is similar, though the fees vary. The borrowers prove they have a regular job -- a pay stub will do -- and a checking account. They borrow money for a few days, usually writing a postdated check for the loan plus a fee. The borrowers may return on payday and pay off the loan, or part of it (requiring an additional fee), or the lender will simply deposit the check. Bounced checks can mean criminal charges, and of course there's an additional fee for a returned check.

Although some states regulate how much in fees such lenders can charge, Texas does not. About 60 percent of local paycheck lenders -- they prefer to be called consumer-service or credit service organizations -- are members of a national organization called Community Service Financial Services of America. Members are required to prominently post their charges in large type.

A quick check in Arlington revealed that virtually all of them have an easily visible menu of charges.

The fees may seem relatively small for a week or two -- typically $15 to $20 for each $100 borrowed -- but calculated annually, they are equivalent to 300 percent to 700 percent, or even more.

This does not seem to deter business.

A recent study of the industry by Morgan Stanley indicated that the average customer of paycheck lenders took out short-term loans an average of nine times a year. An Arkansas study indicated that 99 percent of clients are repeat borrowers; a Consumer Research Foundation study calculates that 1 in 20 adult residents has already had a payday loan.

Though the growth of such lenders in Arlington has not exactly boomed, their numbers have increased steadily. There are 20 such lenders in the city and 108 in the county, not counting a number of pawnshops that offer similar unsecured small loans, typically less than $1,000. Some of them offer convenience store hours.

Clearly the potential profits are high.

The Center for Responsible Lending calculates that on average such businesses enjoy a profit margin of 34 percent, though it's difficult to tell because many such businesses are not publicly traded.

One that is publicly traded is Fort Worth-based Cash America International, which reported a 24 percent increase in earnings last quarter.

Once restricted to relatively low-income neighborhoods, the trend has been for such businesses to move closer to more middle-class clientele. One ACE Cash Express outlet, for example, is near The Parks at Arlington mall. A First Cash Advance on Northeast Green Oaks Boulevard is within a minute's drive from half-million-dollar homes.

Naturally, the payday loan business continues to be a subject of regulatory interest by the state Legislature. Thus far, however, Texas remains one of the more indifferent states in this regard.