Payday Loans in Colorado: The 36% Cap and Installment Loan Options

Colorado capped payday loans, which state law calls deferred deposit loans, at 36% APR when voters passed Proposition 111 in 2018, and lenders stopped making them after the cap took effect in February 2019. Today, licensed supervised lenders offer installment loans of up to $1,000 under alternative charge rules, and larger loans at tiered rates.

How to Get a Loan in Colorado

Most Colorado borrowers choose between an installment loan of up to $1,000 and a larger supervised loan.

1. Pick the loan: $1,000 or less is usually an alternative charge loan repaid over 6 to 12 months; more money means a supervised installment loan.
2. Submit one request through LendUp with your ID, income details and bank account. Lenders in our network review it, and you see the full cost before you sign.
3. Check the lender in the Attorney General's License Holders Report, and compare offers by APR and total of payments.

Payday Loans in Colorado: The 36% Cap

Colorado's deferred deposit law allows loans of up to $500, and since 2010 they've needed a term of at least six months. Proposition 111 passed 77% to 23% and replaced the old fees and interest with a 36% APR cap. Before the vote, the average Colorado payday loan carried a 186% APR. Once the cap took effect, lenders stopped making deferred deposit loans, and many switched to alternative charge loans, which the Consumer Credit Code allows to cost more than 36%.

• At 36% APR, $500 repaid over six months in equal monthly payments costs about $54 in interest.
• The Uniform Consumer Credit Code (UCCC) covers payday loans, car loans, signature loans and most other consumer credit in Colorado.

Installment Loans of $1,000 or Less

For loans of $1,000 or less, supervised lenders can charge alternative charges instead of interest. HB23-1229 tightened these rules for loans made or renewed on or after January 1, 2024.

In 2023, before these changes, alternative charge loans averaged $697 at an actual APR of about 101%. Compare offers by the total of payments.

Installment Loans Over $1,000

A lender needs a supervised lender license from the Attorney General to charge more than 12% a year. Supervised lenders can charge either 21% a year or the tiered rate below. A loan secured by your car is still a consumer loan under the UCCC.

Online Lenders and Out-of-State Banks

Online lenders that make supervised loans to Coloradans need the same license. The Attorney General warns that some lenders advertised online or on TV are owned by or affiliated with federally recognized tribes, which the Department of Law doesn't license or regulate.

HB23-1229 also opted Colorado out of the federal law that lets state-chartered banks export their home-state rates, for loans made or renewed on or after July 1, 2024. Three trade groups sued, and a federal district court blocked Colorado from applying its rate caps to certain out-of-state state-chartered banks. A Tenth Circuit panel reversed that order on November 10, 2025, but on April 2, 2026, the full court agreed to rehear the case and vacated the panel's ruling. Until the full court rules, Colorado can't enforce its caps against those banks, so online loans they fund, often through a fintech partner, may cost more than a Colorado-licensed loan.

Verify a Lender in Colorado

1. Open the Attorney General's License Holders Report and search for supervised lenders.
2. Search by the lender's legal name and any trade name shown on its website or your offer.
3. Check that the license is active and that the address matches what the lender shows you.

To report a lender, file a credit and debt complaint with the Attorney General online or call the Consumer Credit Unit at (720) 508-6012. For licensing questions, call (720) 508-6010.

Your Rights in Colorado

• Payday loans are capped at 36%. A deferred deposit loan must stay at or below 36% APR and run at least six months.
• Refunds when you pay early. On loans of $1,000 or less, the unearned part of the acquisition and handling charges comes back to you if you prepay or refinance.
• No late fees on small loans. Since 2024, alternative charge loans can't carry delinquency charges; on other supervised loans, late fees are capped at $15.
• Military borrowers. Federal law caps most loans to active-duty servicemembers and their families at a 36% Military Annual Percentage Rate.

Colorado Lending by the Numbers

• Lenders made 221,045 alternative charge loans totaling $154.1 million in 2023, with an average actual APR of 100.75%, down from 122.06% in 2022.
• 95,747 Coloradans took out alternative charge loans in 2021, the Attorney General's 2023 study found.
• The average APR on closed-end supervised loans was 30.28% in 2024, up from 21.94% in 2022.
• In August 2026, the Attorney General sued EarnIn, alleging it made more than 3.1 million unlicensed payday-style advances to 56,778 Coloradans from 2023 to mid-2025.
• Lender figures are self-reported and haven't been audited.

Colorado Loan Questions

Official Sources

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