Money being taken from your account right now? You can stop it, and you don't have to clear the loan first. Read this first →

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Verified against the state regulator Sources checked · 28 July 2026

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Payday loans in South Carolina

Licensed and supervised by the Board of Financial Institutions, with a separate licence required for every location. Reported terms: $550 maximum, one loan at a time, 31 days, 15% fee.

A separate licence is required for every location

Nobody may engage in deferred presentment services in South Carolina without a licence, and a separate licence is required for each location from which the business is conducted.South Carolina · RegulatorSC Board of Financial Institutions, Consumer Finance Division — a person may not engage in the business of deferred presentment services without first obtaining a license pursuant to 34-39-130; a separate license is required for each location

The Consumer Finance Division also licenses and examines all non-depository companies making consumer loans above 12% APR that are not secured by real property.

Reported terms, pending direct confirmation

Widely reported terms are a maximum loan of $550, one loan at a time, a 31-day limit and fees capped at 15%. Those figures are consistent across sources but we have not yet traced them to the statute, so treat them as indicative and confirm with the Division.

Licensing
Required — separately for each location.
Scope of regulation
All non-depository consumer lending above 12% APR not secured by real property.
Reported maximum loan
$550 — pending direct confirmation.
Reported loans at once
One — pending direct confirmation.
Reported term and fee
31 days; 15% — pending direct confirmation.
Regulator
South Carolina Board of Financial Institutions, Consumer Finance Division
Statute
S.C. Code Ann. § 34-39-130 (licensing); § 37-3-201 (general rate limits)

If money is being taken from your account

You can revoke authorisation and instruct your bank to stop the payment, whatever your agreement says.

What Regulation E says about automatic payments →

Debt-collection law in South Carolina

A payday loan is a consumer debt. If it goes unpaid, two South Carolina rules decide what a lender can do next: how long it has to sue you, and how much of your pay a court can order taken.

Being sued over an old payday loan? A collector can still file, but the time limit is a defence you can raise — and you cannot be jailed for the debt. What can and cannot happen if you don’t pay →

Sources. South Carolina Board of Financial Institutions, Consumer Finance Division. S.C. Code Ann. §§ 34-39-130 and 37-3-201.
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