Payday Loans in Wyoming: Laws, Costs, and Your Options (2026)

Payday loans in Wyoming are legal, regulated as a post-dated check transaction under the Uniform Consumer Credit Code rather than under a stand-alone payday loan law. The finance charge is capped, the term cannot run past one calendar month, and a lender cannot refinance a loan it already made you. This page covers what Wyoming law allows, what a loan actually costs, the rights you have before and after you sign, and which of the lenders we review serve Wyoming. For how Wyoming compares with every other state, see payday loan laws by state.

Wyoming payday loan rules at a glance

Rule	Wyoming
Legal status	Permitted, through a licensed post-dated check casher (W.S. 40-14-362 through 40-14-368)
Regulator	Wyoming Division of Banking, state banking commissioner as administrator, (307) 777-7797
Maximum loan amount	No cap stated in this article; the finance-charge cap, not a dollar limit, governs cost (W.S. 40-14-363)
Fee cap	The greater of $30 or 20% per month of the principal balance, fully earned the day the loan is made
Term	Up to one calendar month (W.S. 40-14-363(b))
Refinancing	Prohibited with the same post-dated check casher (W.S. 40-14-364)
Right to rescind	By 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time the next business day, returning the full amount in cash or certified funds, at no cost (W.S. 40-14-365)
Extended payment plan	Once every 12 months: at least 4 installments over at least 60 days, at no additional cost if you comply (W.S. 40-14-366)
Military borrowers	36% federal MAPR cap under the Military Lending Act; the administrator can enforce violations of it under W.S. 40-14-368

How a Wyoming payday loan works

Wyoming’s statute never says “payday loan.” The product is a post-dated check or similar arrangement: lending money by means of a check or draft dated after it is written, or held for a period before deposit, under an agreement with the lender, whether the agreement is express or implied (W.S. 40-14-362). The lender is a post-dated check casher, and it must be licensed under the same licensing part of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code that covers every other consumer lender in Wyoming, W.S. 40-14-634: an application reviewed for the financial responsibility and character of the applicant, a processing fee and an initial license fee, each set by the administrator’s rule and capped by statute at $500, and a license that expires every December 31 and must be renewed.

The finance charge is capped at the greater of $30 or 20% per month of the principal balance, and that charge is fully earned the day the loan is made, under W.S. 40-14-363(a) and (c). The statute does not set a dollar cap on how much you can borrow; it caps the charge instead. The maximum term for a post-dated check arrangement is one calendar month, under W.S. 40-14-363(b); the extended payment plan described below is not subject to that one-month limit. A post-dated check casher cannot let you pay off, refinance, or consolidate one loan with the proceeds of another post-dated check loan from the same casher, under W.S. 40-14-364.

What a payday loan costs in Wyoming

Because the fee is a flat share of the principal rather than a per-day rate, here is the cost on a $500 loan at the statutory cap, the amount our payday loan cost by state guide uses to illustrate Wyoming’s rule:

	Amount
Borrowed	$500
Finance charge (greater of $30 or 20%)	$100
Due on the date the check is held to	$600
APR on a one-month loan (20% × 12)	About 240% APR
APR if the same $100 is due in 14 days	About 521% APR

The statute’s text lets the full $100 be charged however short the term, because the charge is fully earned the day the loan is made, so on a 14-day loan the legal maximum works out to about 521% APR. The Wyoming Legislative Service Office has read the cap differently: in a 2005 research brief it treated the 20% as a full-month figure that is prorated when the term is shorter. Applied to a 14-day, $500 loan, that reading works out by our arithmetic to about $45 (about 235% APR). That brief is staff research, not law, so we show the statute’s maximum. Either way, ask the lender for the Truth in Lending disclosure’s APR and total of payments before you sign, and compare them against the figures above.

The extended payment plan: the rule to know before the due date

If you cannot repay on the due date, W.S. 40-14-366 lets you ask for an extended payment plan once every twelve months, measured from the date you finish paying off one plan to the date you enter another. You must ask, and sign an amendment memorializing the plan’s terms, before 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time on the last business day before your loan is due. The plan must give you at least four substantially equal installments spread over at least 60 days, with each due date tied to when you receive income, or at least two weeks apart if you have no regular income. As long as you keep to the plan, there is no additional charge and no new interest or fees. Miss an installment, though, and the lender can accelerate the full remaining balance and, under subsection (d), charge interest on it at 6% plus the prime rate the Wall Street Journal published on January 1 of the year you defaulted.

Your rights

1. A licensed lender. A post-dated check casher must hold a license under W.S. 40-14-634 from the state banking commissioner. Verify one or ask about a company through the Wyoming Division of Banking at (307) 777-7797 or [email protected].
2. A capped finance charge. No more than the greater of $30 or 20% a month of the principal, charged once, under W.S. 40-14-363(a).
3. A one-month cap on the term. W.S. 40-14-363(b) caps a post-dated check arrangement at one calendar month, outside of an extended payment plan.
4. No refinancing with the same lender. W.S. 40-14-364 bars that lender from letting you pay off one loan with the proceeds of another.
5. The right to change your mind. W.S. 40-14-365 lets you rescind by 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time the next business day, at no cost, by returning the full amount advanced in cash or certified funds; the lender must tell you in writing how.
6. An extended payment plan once a year if you cannot pay on time, under the terms in W.S. 40-14-366.
7. A written notice. W.S. 40-14-367 requires the lender to give you, and have you sign at least annually, a written notice stating that state law bars refinancing with the same casher and that a post-dated check advance should be used for short-term needs, not a long-term financial solution.

Active-duty servicemembers and their dependents have one more protection: the federal Military Lending Act caps the Military Annual Percentage Rate on these loans at 36%, and W.S. 40-14-368 lets the administrator enforce a violation of that federal cap against a Wyoming licensee.

What happens if you cannot repay

Ask for the extended payment plan before the due date; it is the option the statute gives you at no added cost if you keep to its schedule. If you miss an installment on that plan, the lender can accelerate the balance and add interest as described above, then pursue the debt. Read what happens if you default on a payday loan for how that process generally works, and how to escape the payday loan cycle if a new loan right after the last one has become the pattern. If the underlying problem is a bill you cannot cover, start with what to do when you can’t make this month’s payment: a payment plan with the creditor you actually owe is almost always cheaper than a loan carrying a 20%-a-month charge to keep that account current.

Alternatives worth trying first in Wyoming

These are roughly cheapest first, with the payday loan last for comparison:

Option	What it costs	The catch
Payment plan on the bill itself	Often nothing	You have to ask before the due date
211 referral to rent, utility, or food help	Nothing	What is funded varies by area
Federal credit union PAL I	Up to 28% APR plus an application fee of up to $20; $200 to $1,000, 1–6 months	One month of membership first; one PAL at a time
Federal credit union PAL II	The same caps; up to $2,000, 1–12 months	Not every federal credit union offers one
Wyoming payday loan	Up to $100 on $500 (above)	About 240% APR over a month, 521% over 14 days

The credit union limits come from federal regulation (12 CFR 701.21(c)(7)): no more than three PALs in six months, and no rollovers. Call 211 to reach the local referral line. Employer pay advances and earned-wage apps cost more than their small fees suggest; payday loan alternatives that actually work has the numbers for each option. If an installment loan is on the table, installment loans vs. payday loans explains how to compare total cost.

If you do borrow, ask for the Truth in Lending disclosure before you sign, confirm the lender’s Wyoming license with the Division of Banking, and know the extended payment plan is available if the due date arrives and you cannot pay in full.