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Missouri has a cap. It is 75% of the amount you borrow — which on a two-week loan works out at roughly 1,950% a year.
Missouri Revised Statutes §§ 408.500–408.505
Missouri’s Division of Finance describes its rules as placing borrowers under “a host of consumer safeguards” — a 75% cap on interest and fees, renewals limited to six, and a term of 14 to 31 days.Missouri · RegulatorMissouri Division of Finance — sections 408.500-408.505 place a 75 percent cap on interest and fees on the initial loan and renewals, limit renewals to no more than six, and limit the term to 14-31 days
Read the arithmetic. Seventy-five per cent of principal, charged over fourteen days, annualises to roughly 1,950%. Analysis for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis described it as the highest permitted among states that cap payday rates at all.Missouri · Federal Reserve researchSt. Louis Fed report on the Missouri payday loan industry — 75% of the loan amount translates to a 1,950% APR on a two-week loan, the highest allowed among the 43 states that have banned or capped payday loans
The same research notes that Missouri’s general usury law is, in the Division’s own words, of very limited effect because of the number of exceptions to it.
A loan can be renewed up to six times, provided you reduce the principal by 5% before each renewal. A 31-day loan can therefore run for the better part of a year, with charges accruing throughout up to the 75% ceiling.
Loans made in Missouri have averaged more than 400% APR according to the Division of Finance — below the legal maximum, because the market will not bear the full 75% on every loan.
Obtaining a payday lending licence in Missouri requires an application and a fee. Research for the St. Louis Fed reported no background check and no assessment of financial capability.Missouri · Federal Reserve researchSt. Louis Fed report — obtaining a payday loan licence in Missouri requires only an application and payment of a fee; there is no background check or determination of financial capability
A Missouri licence therefore tells you the lender is registered. It does not tell you they were vetted.
You can revoke authorisation and instruct your bank to stop the payment, whatever your agreement says.
What Regulation E says about automatic payments →
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A payday loan is a consumer debt. If it goes unpaid, two Missouri rules decide what a lender can do next: how long it has to sue you, and how much of your pay a court can order taken.
Being sued over an old payday loan? A collector can still file, but the time limit is a defence you can raise — and you cannot be jailed for the debt. What can and cannot happen if you don’t pay →