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House lawmakers heard testimony Wednesday on a plan to that would reduce by more than tenfold the annual interest rate on payday loans.

At present, interest rates can top out at more than 500 percent. The proposed change would cap rates at a maximum of 36 percent a year. The measure would also bar payday or title loan lenders from making more than one loan to a customer in any 60 day period.

The state's top banking official and advocates for the poor say the policy would be a step in the right direction. But loan providers say the measure will effectively shut down an industry that provides people with needed money.

New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers has more.