Payday Loans and Cash Advance in Alaska

Legal, $500 cap, $5 plus 15% fee. Below: the law, the limits, what $300 costs here, who regulates it, and how to request a cash advance online in Alaska.

Is a Cash Advance Legal in Alaska?

Payday loans are legal in Alaska under the Deferred Deposit Advances Act, Alaska Statutes Title 06, Chapter 50. The law calls the product a deferred deposit advance: a licensee gives you cash and holds your check or debit authorization until an agreed date. AS 06.50.410 caps what one licensee may have outstanding to a borrower at $500. AS 06.50.460 sets the price at a nonrefundable origination fee of up to $5 plus a fee of no more than $15 per $100 advanced, or 15 percent of the advance, whichever is less. AS 06.50.440 requires every advance to run at least 14 days. On $300 for two weeks that is $50 in charges, about 435 percent APR. The advance may be renewed twice in a row for the same fees, then must be paid in full. The Division of Banking and Securities in the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development licenses lenders, including online lenders, and takes complaints. The legislature passed Senate Bill 39 in 2025 to cap these loans at 36 percent; the governor vetoed it on June 24, 2025, so the fee schedule below still stands.

The governing law is Alaska Deferred Deposit Advances Act, Alaska Statutes Title 06, Chapter 50 (AS 06.50.010, 06.50.410, 06.50.440, 06.50.460, 06.50.470, 06.50.480, 06.50.510, 06.50.550, 06.50.560).

Loan Limits and Terms in Alaska

Alaska caps the fee two ways and the lower one wins, which on a round number is 15 percent of the advance. The $5 origination fee is the one charge you do not get back if you cancel. Because the $500 limit is per licensee and there is no database, a person can hold advances from more than one company at once. Renewals are where the cost builds: a $300 advance renewed twice costs $45 three times plus origination fees, and the statute lets the lender charge the full fee each time. If you default, AS 06.50.550 lets you ask for a repayment plan of up to six months with at least 5 percent due when it is signed, and it limits what a lender can recover in court to the payment amount plus no more than $700 in damages and costs. Regulations in 3 AAC 11 fill in licensing and reporting details.

What a $300 Loan Costs in Alaska

This uses the maximum charges in AS 06.50.460 and the 14-day minimum term in AS 06.50.440. The origination fee is $5. The advance fee is the lesser of $15 per $100 ($45 on $300) or 15 percent of the advance ($45), so $45. Total charges 5 + 45 = $50, and the borrower repays $350 in two weeks. APR = 50 / 300 x 365 / 14 = 4.35, or about 435 percent. Without the $5 origination fee the rate would be about 391 percent, which is the rate on the 15 percent fee alone; the statute requires the posted notice to show the rate for both 14 and 30 days.

Run your own numbers with the cash advance calculator.

Consumer Protections and Who to Call in Alaska

• No one, including a company based outside Alaska, may make or offer deferred deposit advances in the state without a license under AS 06.50, and a separate license is required for each location or website (AS 06.50.010).
• You may rescind an advance without giving a reason before the close of business on the next business day by repaying the principal in cash or immediately available funds; the only charge you lose is the origination fee of up to $5 (AS 06.50.480).
• A licensee may not threaten you with criminal action because you defaulted on an advance, and the written disclosure you sign before the money is paid must say so (AS 06.50.560, 06.50.510).
• Before disbursing funds the licensee must give you a written statement covering the fees for the advance and any renewal, the bad-check fee, what it can recover if you default, the rescission right and the Division's complaint contact (AS 06.50.510).
• A licensee may not take collateral or services as security or payment, may not lend to someone acting for another person, and may pay you only in cash, a business check, a money order or an electronic transfer (AS 06.50.430, 06.50.450, 06.50.520).
• If you cannot pay, AS 06.50.550 lets you repay a delinquent advance over up to six months, with at least 5 percent due when the plan is signed, and the lender must send a certified letter at least 15 days before taking legal action.
• Every licensed location must post its fees in lettering at least one inch high, as a dollar amount and as an annual percentage rate for 14 days and for 30 days per $100 (AS 06.50.500).

Complaints and licence checks go to the Alaska Division of Banking and Securities, Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development: 907-269-8140, www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/dbs/ConsumerFinance/DeferredDepositAdvance.aspx, or file a complaint at the regulator's complaint page. The federal CFPB also takes complaints about any lender.

Online vs Storefront Lenders in Alaska

Alaska's license requirement reaches online lenders by name. AS 06.50.010 says a person doing business from outside the state may not make or offer deferred deposit advances in Alaska without a license, and it requires a separate license for each internet website. The Division of Banking and Securities handles licensing through the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and publishes a list of licensed deferred deposit advance lenders on its consumer finance page, so a website's claim to be licensed can be checked before you give it a bank login or debit authorization. A licensed online lender is bound by the same $500 ceiling, $5 plus 15 percent fee, 14-day minimum and two-renewal limit as a storefront. Sites operated by out-of-state companies without an Alaska license, including some that claim tribal affiliation, market to Alaskans at their own prices, and the Division publishes its enforcement orders against companies that break the statute. If a company is not on the licensee list, the protections in AS 06.50 and the Division's complaint process do not help you; report it at 907-269-8140 and walk away.

Alternatives If a Payday Loan Is Not the Right Fit

Alaska licenses two other small-dollar products through the same Division: licensed loan entities, which make installment loans rather than single-payment advances, and pawnbrokers. Federal credit unions can offer Payday Alternative Loans under National Credit Union Administration rules with a rate ceiling far below a payday fee, and most Alaska banks and credit unions offer small personal loans or overdraft lines to existing customers. A credit card cash advance costs less over two weeks than a $50 fee on $300. Beyond credit, ask your employer for a wage advance, ask the utility, landlord or clinic you owe for a written payment plan, and contact the statewide 2-1-1 line or your local tribal or community assistance office for help with heating, rent and food. If you already have an advance you cannot repay, ask the lender for the six-month repayment plan AS 06.50.550 allows before it goes to collection, and file a complaint with the Division if the lender refuses to follow the statute.

Compare the installment loan and payday alternative loan options before you decide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nearby States

• WashingtonThe fee cap, a worked example and the regulator to call in Washington.
• HawaiiThe fee cap, a worked example and the regulator to call in Hawaii.
• OregonThe fee cap, a worked example and the regulator to call in Oregon.