Yale. Morgan Stanley. Private equity.

James Zhang has collected plenty of prestigious stamps on his résumé in the nine years since he graduated from high school and pursued a career in high finance. But he’s also an immigrant, the grandson of an illiterate rice farmer who did not have indoor plumbing until the late 1990s.

So perhaps he was the most likely person to find and then shame the many state pension funds and university endowments that invest, through private equity, in the payday lending industry. It is an industry that has millions of struggling Americans paying sky-high interest rates for what are supposed to be small loans.

Thanks to his efforts, New Jersey rid itself of a stake in the industry earlier this year. And starting Friday, through a new guide on the website NerdWallet, where he now works, Mr. Zhang hopes to redirect as many people as possible who are seeking these loans.

NerdWallet is a natural home for these efforts for one reason in particular: The people who work there are search engine ninjas. The company posts content and guides aimed at attracting people looking for, say, a new credit card. Search for “best rewards credit cards” on Google, and you’ll find the company right away, in spots below the ads on the first page of results that would cost piles of money if NerdWallet had to pay for them. The company makes money through referral fees when people sign up for new credit cards and other financial services through its site.