The Cost of Not Knowing: Awareness and What Borrowers Pay
In states where fewer borrowers know about credit-union loans, the fees paid run higher.
- 44 — states in the sample
- 16 — states where 65%+ did not know about credit-union loans
- 82 — their average fees paid, $
- 4 — states where under 55% did not know
- 103 — their average fees paid, $
The numbers
States with at least 30 respondents, ranked by how many had never heard of a credit-union loan.
| State | Code | Respondents | Did not know about PAL, % | Median fees paid, $ | Rollover share, % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | NH | 30 | 78.0 | 60 | 37.5 |
| Idaho | ID | 104 | 73.1 | 75 | 54.3 |
| Hawaii | HI | 35 | 70.0 | 90 | 44.6 |
| Oklahoma | OK | 249 | 68.8 | 75 | 51.4 |
| Georgia | GA | 121 | 68.6 | 75 | 46.0 |
| Massachusetts | MA | 45 | 67.8 | 144 | 41.2 |
| Kansas | KS | 119 | 67.6 | 75 | 50.6 |
| Maine | ME | 39 | 67.4 | 68 | 61.3 |
| Connecticut | CT | 31 | 66.9 | 144 | 31.8 |
| Nebraska | NE | 81 | 66.8 | 75 | 49.8 |
| Illinois | IL | 202 | 66.6 | 68 | 48.0 |
| Washington | WA | 262 | 66.3 | 75 | 55.1 |
| Colorado | CO | 113 | 66.1 | 75 | 45.5 |
| Missouri | MO | 382 | 65.7 | 75 | 47.9 |
| Arizona | AZ | 165 | 65.3 | 75 | 53.7 |
How we counted
- PAL is a payday alternative loan offered by federal credit unions, capped at 28% APR.
- We compare fees actually paid in states where awareness is low against states where it is higher.
Data updated 2026-07-31. Full dataset: data.csv.
Use this research
Free to cite, quote and chart — with attribution. Journalists and researchers are welcome to reuse the table and the dataset.
Citation: Paykedge, “The Cost of Not Knowing: Awareness and What Borrowers Pay”, 2026. Available at https://paykedge.com/research/cost-of-not-knowing/