payday loans

Wisconsin Legislature: AB764: Bill Text

Skip navigation

Home

Documents

Senate

Assembly

Committees

Service Agencies

Docs

Options

Help

2025 Biennium

Statutes

Admin. Rules

Indices

Miscellaneous

Archives

Home

Bill, Rule, and Appointment Histories

Senators

Representatives

Committees

Text of Introduced Proposals

Amendment Text

Acts

Veto Messages

Enrolled Bills

Votes

Assembly and Senate Floor Calendars

Schedule of Committee Activities

Assembly and Senate Journals

Committee Records (ROCPs)

Legislative Rules

All Session-Related Documents

Subject Index to Acts

Subject Index to Legislation

Subject Index to Journals

Author Index to Legislation

Subject Index to Clearinghouse Rules

Miscellaneous Budget Documents

Executive Orders

Rulings of the Chair

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules

Opinions of the Attorney General

Town Law Forms

Law

Districts

Session

Drafting Files

Feeds

Preferences

Show tree

Hide tree

Feedback

Help

Home

Senate Home

Senators

Committees

Session

Chief Clerk

Sergeant at Arms

Civics Education

Human Resources
Assembly Home

Representatives

Committees

Session

Chief Clerk

Sergeant at Arms

Human Resources
Schedule

Joint

Senate

Assembly

Study
Legislative Audit Bureau

Legislative Council

Legislative Fiscal Bureau

Legislative Human Resources Office

Legislative Reference Bureau

Legislative Technology Services Bureau

Menu
»
2025
»
Related Documents
»
Proposal Text
»
AB764: Bill Text

Up

Up

2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-2249/1
ARG:cdc
2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 764
December 17, 2025 - Introduced by Representatives
Allen
,
Rivera-Wagner
,
Anderson
,
Goodwin
,
Gundrum
,
Knodl
,
Kreibich
,
Ortiz-Velez
and
Stroud
, cosponsored by Senators
Jacque
and
Cabral-Guevara
. Referred to Committee on State Affairs.
AB764,1,7
1
An Act

to repeal
138.14 (1) (g);
to renumber
138.14 (9m);
to renumber and
2
amend
138.14 (10) (a) 1.;
to amend
138.14 (9g) (a) 3., 138.14 (10) (b) 2.,
3
138.14 (11) (b), 138.14 (12) (b), 138.14 (12) (f), 138.14 (13) (d), 138.14 (14) (m)
4
and 422.201 (3);
to repeal and recreate
138.14 (1) (k);
to create
138.14 (1)
5
(km), 138.14 (9g) (a) 7., 138.14 (9m) (a), 138.14 (9r) (g), 138.14 (10) (a) 1g.,
6
138.14 (10) (c) and 138.14 (12) (g) and (h) of the statutes;
relating to:
payday
7
loans.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill redefines a payday loan and makes other changes related to the regulation of payday loans. The bill also limits the maximum interest rate that may be charged on a payday loan.
Under current law, a person other than a financial institution or its affiliate must be licensed by the Division of Banking (division) in the Department of Financial Institutions to originate or service a payday loan involving a Wisconsin resident. A “payday loan” is defined as a transaction between an individual with an account at a financial establishment and another person (payday lender) in which the payday lender agrees to accept a check or electronic fund transfer (EFT) authorization from the individual, to delay negotiating the check or initiating the EFT for a period of time, and to extend a loan to the individual for a term of 90 days or less. Current law imposes various requirements and restrictions on payday loans and licensed payday lenders. For example, a payday lender may not make a payday loan that results in the customer having an outstanding liability in principal, interest, and fees on all payday loans held at the same time by the customer of more than $1,500 or 35 percent of the customer’s gross monthly income, whichever is less. A payday lender must also provide to an applicant certain information before entering into a payday loan, including disclosing fees and costs and the loan’s annual percentage rate and providing written materials prepared by the division.
Current law does not impose a limit on the interest that a payday loan licensee may charge, before the maturity date, on a payday loan. If a payday loan is not paid in full by the maturity date, current law prohibits a licensee from charging interest after the maturity date in excess of 2.75 percent per month. A payday loan under which a greater rate of interest is charged after the maturity date is not enforceable.
This bill eliminates the foregoing definition of a payday loan and instead defines a payday loan as a loan to which all of the following apply: 1) the loan’s maturity date is not more than six months after the loan’s origination date; and 2) the loan is not secured by real property or other collateral. The bill prohibits a payday lender from making or offering to make a payday loan having a maturity date less than 90 days after the loan’s origination date.
The bill also limits the interest rate that a payday lender may charge, before the maturity date, on a payday loan to an annual percentage rate of 36 percent. A payday loan on which a greater rate of interest is charged is not enforceable.
The bill imposes the following additional restrictions and requirements on payday loans:
1. A payday lender may not make or offer to make a payday loan unless the loan agreement requires the loan to be repaid in substantially equal periodic payments over substantially equal intervals.
2. All payday loans must be precomputed, which is defined as a transaction in which the debt is expressed as a single sum comprised of the amount financed and the finance charge computed in advance.
3. Before entering into a payday loan, a payday lender must undertake a reasonable underwriting process to verify the applicant’s ability to repay the payday loan. The payday lender may not make a payday loan in an amount that exceeds the amount the applicant is capable of repaying, as determined by the payday lender’s underwriting process, or the maximum amount established under current law (as described above), whichever is less.
4. Before entering into a payday loan, a payday lender must disclose to the applicant, in a clear and conspicuous manner, the payment plan and the amount of interest that will be paid over the course of the loan. The payday lender must also disclose to the applicant the availability of a financial literacy course of no more than three hours’ duration that the bill requires the division to develop or make available to the public.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
AB764,1
1
Section
1
.
138.14 (1) (g) of the statutes is repealed.
AB764,2
2
Section
2
.
138.14 (1) (k) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
AB764,2,3
3
138.14
(1)
(k) “Payday loan” means a loan to which all of the following apply:
AB764,2,5
4
1. The loan’s maturity date is not more than 6 months after the loan’s
5
origination date.
AB764,2,6
6
2. The loan is not secured by real property or other collateral.
AB764,3
7
Section
3
.
138.14 (1) (km) of the statutes is created to read:
AB764,2,10
8
138.14
(1)
(km) “Precomputed” means a transaction in which the debt is
9
expressed as a single sum comprised of the amount financed and the finance charge
10
computed in advance.
AB764,4
11
Section
4
.
138.14 (9g) (a) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB764,2,14
12
138.14
(9g)
(a) 3. Provide to the applicant a copy of the written informational
13
materials specified in sub. (9r)
(a) to (f) and disclose to the applicant the availability
14
of the financial literacy course under sub. (9r) (g)
.
AB764,5
15
Section
5
.
138.14 (9g) (a) 7. of the statutes is created to read:
AB764,2,18
16
138.14
(9g)
(a) 7. Disclose to the applicant, in a clear and conspicuous
17
manner, the payment plan and the amount of interest that will be paid over the
18
course of the loan.
AB764,6
1
Section
6
.
138.14 (9m) of the statutes is renumbered 138.14 (9m) (b).
AB764,7
2
Section
7
.
138.14 (9m) (a) of the statutes is created to read:
AB764,3,8
3
138.14
(9m)
(a) Before entering into a payday loan with an applicant, the
4
licensee shall undertake a reasonable underwriting process to verify the applicant’s
5
ability to repay the payday loan. The licensee may not make a payday loan in an
6
amount that exceeds the amount the applicant is capable of repaying, including
7
principal and interest, as determined by the licensee’s underwriting process, or the
8
amount established as provided in sub. (12) (b), whichever is less.
AB764,8
9
Section
8
.
138.14 (9r) (g) of the statutes is created to read:
AB764,3,12
10
138.14
(9r)
(g) The division shall develop or make available to the public a
11
financial literacy course that includes material related to payday loans. The
12
course’s duration shall be no more than 3 hours.
AB764,9
13
Section
9
.
138.14 (10) (a) 1. of the statutes is renumbered 138.14 (10) (a) 1r.
14
and amended to read:
AB764,3,18
15
138.14
(10)
(a) 1r.
Except as provided in

Subject to subd. 2. and
sub. (12) (b),
16
this section imposes no limit on the interest that
a licensee may
not
charge
before
17
the maturity date of

an annual percentage rate of interest greater than 36 percent
18
on
a payday loan.
AB764,10
19
Section
10
.
138.14 (10) (a) 1g. of the statutes is created to read:
AB764,3,23
20
138.14
(10)
(a) 1g. For purposes of this paragraph, “annual percentage rate”
21
shall be determined consistent with the provisions of section 107 of the federal
22
Truth in Lending Act,
15 USC 1606
, and federal Regulation Z adopted under that
23
act,
12 CFR 226
.
AB764,11
1
Section
11
.
138.14 (10) (b) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB764,4,8
2
138.14
(10)
(b) 2. A licensee may present a customer’s check for
a periodic

3
payment no more than once. For each customer authorization to initiate an
4
electronic fund transfer from the customer’s account, a licensee may initiate an
5
electronic fund transfer
for a periodic payment
no more than once. The only charge
6
that a licensee may impose for dishonor of a customer’s check or denial of the
7
licensee’s instruction to execute an electronic fund transfer is a service charge that
8
does not exceed $15.
AB764,12
9
Section
12
.
138.14 (10) (c) of the statutes is created to read:
AB764,4,10
10
138.14
(10)
(c)
Precomputed.
All payday loans shall be precomputed.
AB764,13
11
Section
13
.
138.14 (11) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB764,4,19
12
138.14
(11)
(b) Upon prepayment in full
by cash, renewal, refinancing, or
13
otherwise
, a refund of the unearned
portion of any interest assessed by the licensee

14
finance charge
must be allowed. The amount of
such refund shall not be less than
15
the difference between the interest charged and the interest earned at the agreed
16
rate computed upon the unpaid principal balance of the loan from time to time
17
outstanding prior to repayment in full

the earned finance charge shall be based on
18
the ratio of the number of days the loan was outstanding to the number of days for
19
which the loan was originally contracted
.
AB764,14
20
Section
14
.
138.14 (12) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB764,5,3
21
138.14
(12)
(b) No licensee may make a payday loan to a customer that results
22
in the customer having an outstanding aggregate liability in principal, interest,
23
and all other fees and charges, to all licensees who have made payday loans to the
1
customer of more than $1,500 or 35 percent of the customer’s gross monthly income,
2
whichever is less. As provided in sub. (9m)
(b)
, a licensee may rely on a consumer
3
report to verify a customer’s income for purposes of this paragraph.
AB764,15
4
Section
15
.
138.14 (12) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB764,5,11
5
138.14
(12)
(f) If a check
held

received
by a licensee as
a result of

payment on

6
a payday loan is dishonored, or an instruction to execute an electronic funds
7
transfer authorized as
the result of

payment on
a payday loan is denied, the licensee
8
may bring an action to collect the amount of the check or electronic funds transfer,
9
but may not threaten or pursue criminal action against a debtor as a result of the
10
debtor’s dishonored check or denied electronic funds transfer or the debtor’s payday
11
loan not being paid.
AB764,16
12
Section
16
.
138.14 (12) (g) and (h) of the statutes are created to read:
AB764,5,14
13
138.14
(12)
(g) No licensee may make or offer to make a payday loan for which
14
the maturity date is less than 90 days after the loan’s origination date.
AB764,5,17
15
(h) No licensee may make or offer to make a payday loan unless the loan
16
agreement requires the loan to be repaid in substantially equal periodic payments
17
over substantially equal intervals.
AB764,17
18
Section
17
.
138.14 (13) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB764,6,4
19
138.14
(13)
(d) No payday loan, wherever made, for which a greater rate or
20
amount of interest than is allowed under sub. (10) (a)
2.
has been contracted for or
21
received, may be enforced in this state, and every person in any way participating
22
therein in this state shall be subject to this section. If a licensee makes an excessive
23
charge of such interest as the result of an unintentional mistake, but upon demand
1
makes correction of such mistake, the loan shall be enforceable and treated as if no
2
violation occurred at the agreed rate. Nothing in this paragraph shall limit any
3
greater rights or remedies afforded in chs. 421 to 427 to a customer in a consumer
4
credit transaction.
AB764,18
5
Section

18
.
138.14 (14) (m) of the statutes is amended to read:

Down

Down

/2025/related/proposals/ab764

true

proposaltext

/2025/related/proposals/ab764

proposaltext/2025/REG/AB764

proposaltext/2025/REG/AB764

section

true

Menu
»
2025
»
Related Documents
»
Proposal Text
»
AB764: Bill Text

×

Details for

PDF view

Link
(Permanent link)

Bookmark this location

View toggle

Go to top of document

Search in this chapter

Search in this section

Search in this agency

Search in this chapter group

Search in this chapter

Search in this section

Cross references for section

Acts affecting this section

References to this

1970 Statutes Annotations

Appellate Court Citations

Administrative Code Index

Reference lines

Clear highlighting