A new book that relates first-hand experiences working in the payday lending industry could help shape the highly volatile debate over payday regulations in the months ahead.

Lisa Servon, a professor of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania, worked at a check-cashing business in the South Bronx in New York and a payday lender in Oakland for her new book, The Unbanking of America, and brings context typically left out of discussions about payday lending.