Guide · Texas

Payday loans in Texas

A payday loan or cash advance is a small loan due on your next payday. You usually give the lender access to your bank account or a post-dated check. If the payment bounces you pay bank fees on top, and many borrowers renew and pay the fee again. Ask for the total you will repay and the exact due date.

You need: a paycheck and a bank account
You risk: Bank fees and a cycle of repeat loans.
Typical speed: same day

What stores charge, by metro area

Stores report every payday loan to the OCCC. Across Texas the fee on a single-payment payday loan averaged $26.60 per $100 borrowed (Q2 2026). “Refinanced” is the share of loans that were renewed instead of paid off, and each renewal costs the fee again.

Metro area	Fee per $100	Average loan	Refinanced
Dallas-Plano-Irving (Metropolitan Division)	$25.70	$645	25%
Rest of Texas (outside these metro areas)	$29.50	$373	51%
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown	$17.46	$471	48%
Fort Worth-Arlington (Metropolitan Division)	$29.04	$399	50%
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos	$28.43	$456	49%
San Antonio-New Braunfels	$19.51	$475	48%
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission	$30.28	$340	38%
Beaumont-Port Arthur	$17.12	$497	40%

Source: OCCC credit access business report by metro area, Q2 2026.

Before you sign

Ask for the total you will repay, in dollars, and the due date — in writing.
Ask what happens if you pay late or cannot pay on the due date.
Ask whether they will call your employer or your references.
Never pay a fee before you receive the loan.

What Texas law says

Checked against the statute on 23 September 2026.

Payday and title loans: no state cap on the fee

At a Texas storefront, a payday or car title loan is usually arranged by a credit access business. It must hold an OCCC licence for each location. Tex. Fin. Code §393.601, §393.603
The lender charges interest, and the credit access business charges its own fee on top. The law lets the business set that fee “as agreed to between the parties” — Texas sets no cap on it. Tex. Fin. Code §393.602(b)
The store must post every fee it charges, in the store and on its website, next to the OCCC's name and helpline. Tex. Fin. Code §393.222
Before the loan, you must get a disclosure comparing its cost with other kinds of credit and showing what renewing it for two weeks, one month, two months and three months would add in fees. Tex. Fin. Code §393.223(a)
Your contract must say there is no penalty for paying early, name the lender, and list the interest and the business's fees separately. Nobody may threaten criminal charges over a check you gave as security unless there was fraud or another crime. Tex. Fin. Code §393.201(c)
For a title loan, the store must warn you in writing that if you default you may have to hand over the car. Tex. Fin. Code §393.223(b)
Loans to active-duty service members and their dependents must follow the federal Military Lending Act. Tex. Fin. Code §393.625

Many cities add their own limits

At least 45 Texas cities have adopted a “unified” payday and auto title ordinance, starting with Dallas and Austin in 2011. Stores must register with the city; a payday loan is limited to 20% of your gross monthly income; a title loan to the lesser of 3% of your gross annual income or 70% of the car's value; and a loan can have at most four installments or three renewals, each cutting the principal by 25%. Texas Appleseed, The Impact of the Unified Payday and Auto Title Loan Ordinance

Sources

If you can’t pay

If you cannot pay on the due date, talk to the lender before the date, not after — ask for an extension or a payment plan in writing, and what it costs in dollars. If a lender breaks the rules, you can complain to the Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner (OCCC). Call the OCCC on 800-538-1579 or contact them online.

Signs it isn’t a real lender

Asks for a fee before paying you.
Wants payment by gift card or wire transfer.
Threatens you with arrest.
Cannot give a state licence number.
Promises “guaranteed approval”.
Has no office at its listed address.