Payday Loan: The Global Interest Rate Comparison

A Payday Loan is a small loan lent at a high rate of interest and expected to be paid back by the next paycheck. It’s often called a “cash advance,” though the term is not always accurate. It’s an unsecured loan, which means it doesn’t require any kind of collateral. 

What are the average interest rates & conditions in the US?

    Payday loans are only fully legal in 27 states, while they are legal with restrictions in nine others. Even in states where they are legal, they are subject to increasingly stringent federal legislation and oversight. This makes finding an average interest rate difficult, as some states enforce a maximum interest rate. Taking that into account, the average interest rate for payday loans is around 391% if the loan is paid back in two weeks or less. After two weeks, the rate goes to 521%. The best strategy here is to check what the rules are in your state.

What are the average interest rates & terms in the UK?

The U.K. payday loan market has experienced immense change in the last four years, with the Financial Conduct Authority taking over the handling of short-term loans. Interest rates that were over 1000% are making their way down because of a price cap, and default charges cannot exceed 15 pounds. The interest rate does depend on how much is borrowed; however. 

What are the average interest rates & conditions in Germany?

    Payday loans didn’t exist in Germany until 2012. Like in the United States, interest rates in Germany are capped. They are also regulated through the bank, so the interest rates are significantly lower. Vexcash was one of the first provider for Payday loans in Germany.

What are the average interest rates & conditions in Spain?

    Payday loans are not regulated by the Bank of Spain, but by regional governments. They do have to register with the Health Minister’s Consumer Sub-directorate. Their supreme court supposedly passed regulations to prevent lenders from charging interest rates over 24.6%, but the average is closer to 4,000%.

What are the average interest rates & conditions in Russia?

There was a crackdown on payday loans last year in Germany. Legislation is being presented, but has not yet been implemented, to lower the interest rate of payday loans from an average of 600% to 150%.

Payday loans as a concept and as a practice started in the United States. After regulation strangled businesses in some states and banned it in others, the business and the concept of payday loans moved on to Europe. It’s flourished to the point that the Government needed to step in in the United Kingdom. Germany has followed their example and tried to cap loans before they can get to extravagant levels. Spain can’t seem to enforce its laws and Russia has yet to implement their own. There are debates on how to regulate payday loans, especially since the internet makes these things hard to regulate differently in one country than in another and whether rate caps work.