U.S. Bank to offer small-dollar loans to compete with payday lenders U.S. Bank will offer small-dollar loans to its depositors, aiming to provide cash when customers get in short-term binds. The product, called Simple Loan, puts the nation’s fifth-largest bank in more direct competition with payday lenders and other financial firms that offer a few hundred dollars for short terms and often at high interest rates. U.S. Bank, the bank unit of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, is the first of the nation’s large banks to bring such a loan to market. Executives spent recent weeks demonstrating the product to regulators. (Spokesman-Review)