While Kentucky politicians say they’re cracking down on payday lending practices (though the bill just passed in the legislature puts no real limits on interest rates), one independent Kentucky bank has moved from payday lending to tax refund anticipation loans and run into criticism on a national level.

Republic Bank was one of just three banks in the country to receive a “needs to improve” grade from the FDIC earlier this month “for alleged violations involving tax refund anticipation loans.”

Bank president Steve Trager is a regular on the Fox Business Network, and last fall was featured in a revealing story in Barron’s that said the bank’s phenomenal growth “was fueled by lending that some call predatory.”

In a March 14 C-J story, Republic dropped efforts to change its regulatory structure, a move seen as a victory by 30 consumer groups who had filed a complaint about the bank’s plans.  According to the story, Republic earned $13.3 million from its tax-refund anticipation loan business in 2008, ranking among the largest such businesses in the United States.

Yet there seems to be very little media coverage of Republic, which has a significant local advertising budget, though it makes most of the tax refund loans out of state. The tax refund loan business is starting to get the attention of lawmakers nationally, much like the payday loan industry. And if you really look at them, they do the same thing — preying on cash-strapped consumers.