Guides
Guides
How these products work and what the rules say, in plain English, with sources.
- How a small fee becomes a big APRThe APR of an advance is its total cost divided by the amount, scaled to a year. Because advances last days, not years, even a few dollars works out to a high rate; the dollar amount and the APR together tell the real story.2026-10-18
- Earned wage access, cash advance apps and payday loans: how they differThe big differences are who you sign up with (your employer or the app), how the money comes back (from your paycheck or from your bank account), and whether the product is a loan with an interest rate. Federal rules treat a pay advance repaid straight from payroll differently from one taken back from your bank account.2026-10-18
- What happens if you can’t pay a cash advance backMost cash advance apps say they charge no late fees and don’t report to credit bureaus, but a failed repayment can still cost you: a debit that bounces can trigger your own bank’s fees, and some apps won’t give you another advance until the last one is repaid. A few products are loans that charge late interest. Check what your app’s terms say below.2026-10-18
- Why the rules for cash advance apps depend on your stateCongress has not passed an earned wage access law, so each state decides. Some license or register providers and cap fees; a few treat advances as loans; most have no specific rule yet.2026-10-18