The New York Times Bucks blog recently featured BillFloat, a startup that provides short-term loans to help consumers pay bills. 

The metrics cited in the article: 

• Registered190,000 users in the past year
• Provided 80,000 loans in past year
• Total originations were nearly $13 million in past year
• Average loan amount was $160
• Works with over 2,500 companies across the U.S.
• Loan default rate around 10%

Consumer costs: 

• Maximum interest rate is 36% APR (not including service fee)
• Service fee ranges from $9 to $18 per loan

To learn more about BillFloat, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.