That's a more recent phenomenon in the US, which had usury laws in place in most states to prevent predatory lending. Payday lending was the province of the mafia in my lifetime.

In 1980, congress passed a law that neutered state usury laws, and prompted banks to change their charters and re-domicile in places like Delaware, South Dakota and Utah, especially for credit cards. The supreme court further weakened state regulatory authority in the 90s by defining fees as interest, and thus outside of the scope of state authority.