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Today's guess · Thu, Oct 22

A $500 payday loan. $15 for every $100.

Due in two weeks, in one payment of $575. The fee is $75.

As a yearly rate, the APR, what is that?

15.0%
0.0%600.0%
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The real number

391.1%

It is 391.1%.

Your guess—
The real figure391.1%

$75 to borrow $500 for 14 days. Stretch that price over a year and it is 391.07%. A credit card is around 22%.

Why so much?

Why

The fee looks small because the loan is short.

$15 per $100 for two weeks is the same price charged 26 times a year.

The sum

$75 ÷ $500 × 365 ÷ 14 = 391.07%.

Show me one move

One move

The same $500 from a credit union.

Payday loan, 14 days

$75fee
391.07%APR

Credit-union PAL, 3 months

$24interest
28%APR at most

Federal credit unions can offer payday alternative loans with the rate capped at 28%, plus an application fee of up to $20.

Help first: ask whoever you owe for a payment plan, or call 211 for local assistance, before borrowing at all.

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Now yours

Your payday loan, as a yearly rate.

The fee is $75.00; you repay $575.00 in 14 days. As a yearly rate that is 391.07%.

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The whole story, as text

A $500 payday loan at $15 per $100. What is the APR?

A $500 payday loan. $15 for every $100. Due in two weeks, in one payment of $575. The fee is $75. As a yearly rate, the APR, what is that?

The answer

391.1%. $75 to borrow $500 for 14 days. Stretch that price over a year and it is 391.07%. A credit card is around 22%.

Why

The fee looks small because the loan is short. $15 per $100 for two weeks is the same price charged 26 times a year. The sum: $75 ÷ $500 × 365 ÷ 14 = 391.07%.

One move

The same $500 from a credit union. Payday loan, 14 days: $75 fee, 391.07% APR. Credit-union PAL, 3 months: $24 interest, 28% APR at most. Federal credit unions can offer payday alternative loans with the rate capped at 28%, plus an application fee of up to $20. Help first: ask whoever you owe for a payment plan, or call 211 for local assistance, before borrowing at all.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes a fee of $15 per $100 on a two-week loan as typical, and as an APR of almost 400%.

Yours

What does this payday loan really cost? runs these numbers for any loan. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

Written and reviewed by Riverbend Crossroads Digital LLC, Saturday, October 3, 2026. Figures from the Show Real Cost engine, computed exactly and shown to the cent. Educational, not advice; your lender's disclosures are the authoritative figures. How we calculate · Corrections.