Personal Loans in Mississippi: What Licensed Lenders May Charge

How the Mississippi rate limit works

The Small Loan Regulatory Law sets the most a licensee may charge, with separate limits that depend on the size of the loan. Small balances carry the highest allowed charges, and the allowed rate drops as the amount borrowed rises. The DBCF also adjusts the maximum loan amount under section 75-67-181(2), described below.

The figures come from the National Consumer Law Center, which compares state caps. They are ceilings, not typical prices: a lender may offer you far less, and a credit union or bank may not use these limits at all. Check the APR on your Truth in Lending disclosure, which counts interest and fees together.

To see what that gap means, take a $2,000 loan repaid in 24 equal monthly payments. At 59% APR the payment is $143.77 and you repay $3,450.48 in all, $1,450.48 of it in finance charges. At 34% APR, the median cap, the payment is $115.98 and the finance charges come to $783.52. These are worked examples, not offers.

The small-loan size limit

Section 75-67-181(2), as amended by the Legislature in its 2024 regular session, sets a maximum loan amount that the DBCF raises with an official memo. For loans from July 1, 2026, the department raised that maximum from $5,220 to $5,330. If you are offered more than that by a small-loan company, ask which law the loan is made under and what rate limit applies to it.

How Mississippi compares with its neighbors

On the National Consumer Law Center's comparison of a $2,000 two-year loan, Arkansas caps the price at about 17% APR, Louisiana at about 38% and Tennessee at about 49%, while Alabama has no numeric cap. Your state of residence and the lender's license decide which rules apply. The state rules map shows every state side by side.

Who needs a license and who does not

The DBCF's Consumer Finance Division licenses and supervises small-loan lenders along with several other credit businesses. A small loan license requires a physical location in Mississippi, and licenses are issued only to locations in the state.

• Other license types cover credit availability lenders, title pledge lenders, check cashers, pawnbrokers and consumer loan brokers. Each follows its own law.
• Banks and credit unions answer to separate charters and regulators. An out-of-state bank may charge the rates its home state allows, and an online lender working with a bank may lend under the bank's rules. Ask who the lender of record is.
• Payday and title loans are covered by our sister site Lendmira on its Mississippi lending laws page.

Check a lender and file a complaint

1. 1 Find the license in the DBCF's published list of small loan lenders, or search the company in NMLS Consumer Access, before you apply.
2. 2 Keep the loan papers: the Truth in Lending disclosure, the agreement and any messages about fees.
3. 3 Complain to the DBCF with the complaint form on its website or by phone at 601-321-6901.
4. 4 Send a complaint to the CFPB as well if the lender is a bank or a bank partner, or if you are unsure who regulates it.

A request for a fee before approval or funding is a warning sign. How to verify a lender lists the other checks, and where to borrow compares credit unions, banks and finance companies.

Questions people ask