Payday Loan Cost Calculator
| Horizon | Fees on $300 | You still owe |
|---|---|---|
| 2 weeks (1 fee) | $45 | $345 |
| 10 weeks (5 fees) | $225 | $525 |
| 26 weeks (13 fees) | $585 | $885 |
$300 at $15 per $100 - the CFPB's typical case. Each rollover adds a full fee and buys two weeks.
A payday loan is small, fast and priced like nothing else in finance. CFPB's own explainer: lenders charge $10 to $30 for every $100 borrowed, and a typical two-week loan at $15 per $100 works out to an annual percentage rate of almost 400 percent - against credit cards that range from roughly 12 to 30 percent. The loan itself is two weeks; the cost is the headline.
The trap lives in the rollover. Payday loans are structured as one lump-sum payment due on payday, and where state law allows, lenders will roll the loan over: you pay only the fee, and the due date slides two weeks. The debt stands exactly where it was - the calculator below shows what a season of rollovers does to a $300 loan, and why the fee stack can pass the amount borrowed.
How to use
- Enter the loan amount and the lender's fee per $100 - the CFPB puts the market band at $10 to $30, and your state or the lender's poster shows the exact number.
- Add the rollovers you expect: each one adds another full fee and buys two more weeks, with the balance unchanged.
- Read the APR row next to the fee row - same loan, two lenses: the fee feels small, the annualized rate is the truth.
Frequently asked questions
Is a payday loan really a 400 percent APR?
The arithmetic, not a scare number: $15 per $100 for two weeks is 15 percent of the principal per period, and a year holds twenty-six two-week periods - 15 times 26 is 390 percent. The CFPB rounds that to almost 400 percent and compares it to credit card APRs of roughly 12 to 30 percent. The fee looks small because the period is small; the rate is what it costs to hold the money.
What exactly happens at a rollover?
You hand over the fee - say $45 on a $300 loan - and the lender pushes the due date back two weeks. Nothing else changes: the $300 is still owed, and a fresh $45 fee is queued for the next payday. Four rollovers later you have paid $225 in fees on a $300 loan and still owe the original sum, which is why several states cap or ban rollovers outright.
Why not put it on a credit card instead?
Where a credit card is available, the math is rarely close: CFPB pegs typical card APRs at about 12 to 30 percent - roughly a tenth to a third of the payday loan's rate - and a cash advance, while pricier than a purchase, still sits far below a payday fee stack. Cards get expensive when balances carry for months; payday loans are expensive on day one.
How do people get out of the payday cycle?
The standard exits: ask the lender about an extended payment plan (required by law in some states even where rollovers are allowed), take a nonprofit credit-counseling route to restructure, or convert the debt to an installment product at a normal rate. Every exit trades one large fee for a schedule of small ones - the calculator's rollover row is the number to beat.