# What Borrowers Wish They Had Known: The Cheaper Options They Found Too Late | paykedge.com

> Compare state-by-state payday loan laws, APR limits and alternatives across all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. Discover the regulations — and most affordable legal choices — where you live.

Источник: https://paykedge.com/research/what-borrowers-wish-they-knew/

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# What Borrowers Wish They Had Known: The Cheaper Options They Found Too Late

Most borrowers learn about cheaper options only after they have already overpaid.

- **44** — states in the sample
- **63.1** — did not know about credit-union loans, %
- **55.2** — did not know about payment plans, %
- **28.0** — had used a cheaper option before, %

## The numbers

States with at least 30 respondents. The 15 where most borrowers say they wish they had known.

| State | Code | Respondents | Credit-union loan (PAL), % | Extended payment plan, % | Earned-wage access, % | Used an alternative before, %
| New Hampshire | NH | 30 | 78.0 | 58.3 | 50.5 | 22.8
| Alaska | AK | 34 | 61.8 | 69.6 | 45.9 | 44.8
| Hawaii | HI | 35 | 70.0 | 58.7 | 56.5 | 26.3
| Idaho | ID | 104 | 73.1 | 53.5 | 55.6 | 22.6
| Oklahoma | OK | 249 | 68.8 | 57.7 | 48.0 | 23.6
| Washington | WA | 262 | 66.3 | 59.1 | 46.2 | 25.7
| Massachusetts | MA | 45 | 67.8 | 57.0 | 54.5 | 37.4
| Louisiana | LA | 247 | 64.2 | 59.1 | 53.1 | 25.9
| Arizona | AZ | 165 | 65.3 | 57.6 | 48.7 | 26.9
| North Carolina | NC | 80 | 64.2 | 58.1 | 52.4 | 29.6
| Nebraska | NE | 81 | 66.8 | 55.5 | 45.8 | 30.8
| Illinois | IL | 202 | 66.6 | 55.1 | 51.0 | 25.0
| New Mexico | NM | 109 | 62.3 | 59.4 | 52.8 | 35.8
| New York | NY | 148 | 63.4 | 58.3 | 52.1 | 29.5
| Georgia | GA | 121 | 68.6 | 52.0 | 53.8 | 24.1

## How we counted

- The question asked what borrowers wish they had known before taking the loan.
- Three alternatives: a credit-union payday alternative loan, an extended payment plan from the lender, and earned-wage access.

Data updated 2026-07-31. Full dataset: [data.csv](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, “What Borrowers Wish They Had Known: The Cheaper Options They Found Too Late”, 2026. Available at [https://paykedge.com/research/what-borrowers-wish-they-knew/](https://paykedge.com/research/what-borrowers-wish-they-knew/)

[Download the PDF report](report.pdf) [Download the data (CSV)](data.csv)