Payday loan companies may be getting nervous. With Missouri and other states calling for tighter regulations of payday loans, the industry has announced some changes it's making on its own.

Attorney General Nixon and other consumer advocates have issued blistering criticism of the industry, as well as Missouri's payday lending law, among the weakest in the nation. Also in the past year, Congress has passed interest rate caps on payday loans to members of the military, and Missouri eliminated payday loans issued by nursing home operators to their employees.

So now, a major payday lending group says its members will start offering a once-a-year extension of due dates for customers who can't repay their loans in time. They could get an extra four months to pay back their loans without extra fees. Lenders also will put more warnings on their marketing materials about the potential of a debt trap. Consumer advocates say it's not nearly enough, and it's no substitute for tigther state regulations.