Lenders licensed under the California Financing Law made 45,220,693 consumer loans in 2024, totaling $60.5 billion. Most were very small: 44,469,075 loans were under $2,500. The state says about 44 million of them were “buy now, pay later” loans.
Mid-sized loans were the most expensive. Of the 222,996 loans between $2,500 and $9,999, 149,952 (67%) carried an annual percentage rate (APR) of 35% or more. For loans of $2,500 to $4,999, the most common band was 35% to 39.99%, covering 50.6% of loans. For $5,000 to $9,999, that band covered 64.4%.
At the two ends, rates were mostly lower. 97.3% of loans under $2,500 and 84.9% of loans of $10,000 or more were under 15% APR. The consumer loan total also includes 85,322 loans secured by real estate. The report puts their principal at $39.5 billion, about two-thirds of all consumer loan dollars.
What the figures measure
The California Financing Law covers licensed finance lenders and brokers, including many installment lenders, online lenders and buy now, pay later companies. It does not cover banks and credit unions, or payday loans, which California regulates under a separate law. The figures are loans made or refinanced during calendar 2024, as reported by licensees to the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI).
The rate bands are the APR charged on each loan. A rate table with this detail does not tell you the fees or total cost on any one loan, and the report does not break out rates for buy now, pay later loans separately. The report also says that excluding real estate loans and buy now, pay later loans, licensees made 1.1 million consumer loans totaling $16.3 billion.
The report also lists 1,452 loans under $2,500 priced on the law’s step or alternate monthly rate schedules. Those loans are not part of the report’s total for that size group, and we leave them out of the table.
Loans by size and rate
| Loan size | Rate charged | Loans | Share of loans in size group | Principal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $2,500 | Under 15% APR | 43,256,116 | 97.27% | $4,651.5M |
| Under $2,500 | 15% to 19.99% APR | 13,055 | 0.03% | $15.0M |
| Under $2,500 | 20% to 24.99% APR | 73,283 | 0.16% | $42.5M |
| Under $2,500 | 25% to 29.99% APR | 100,278 | 0.23% | $51.6M |
| Under $2,500 | 30% to 34.99% APR | 1,014,501 | 2.28% | $143.3M |
| Under $2,500 | 35% to 39.99% APR | 10,123 | 0.02% | $12.6M |
| Under $2,500 | 40% to 69.99% APR | 1,698 | 0.00% | $1.7M |
| Under $2,500 | 70% to 99.99% APR | 2 | 0.00% | $0.0M |
| Under $2,500 | 100% or more APR | 0 | 0.00% | $0.0M |
| Under $2,500 | Variable Rate | 19 | 0.00% | $0.0M |
| $2,500 to $4,999 | Under 15% APR | 3,740 | 2.87% | $13.4M |
| $2,500 to $4,999 | 15% to 19.99% APR | 21,019 | 16.16% | $70.8M |
| $2,500 to $4,999 | 20% to 24.99% APR | 4,510 | 3.47% | $15.6M |
| $2,500 to $4,999 | 25% to 29.99% APR | 3,146 | 2.42% | $11.5M |
| $2,500 to $4,999 | 30% to 34.99% APR | 16,991 | 13.06% | $53.2M |
| $2,500 to $4,999 | 35% to 39.99% APR | 65,869 | 50.63% | $216.7M |
| $2,500 to $4,999 | 40% to 69.99% APR | 14,793 | 11.37% | $50.6M |
| $2,500 to $4,999 | 70% to 99.99% APR | 0 | 0.00% | $0.0M |
| $2,500 to $4,999 | 100% or more APR | 0 | 0.00% | $0.0M |
| $2,500 to $4,999 | Variable Rate | 21 | 0.02% | $0.1M |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | Under 15% APR | 2,693 | 2.90% | $19.1M |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 15% to 19.99% APR | 4,411 | 4.75% | $32.8M |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 20% to 24.99% APR | 4,014 | 4.32% | $29.4M |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 25% to 29.99% APR | 3,194 | 3.44% | $23.8M |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 30% to 34.99% APR | 9,301 | 10.01% | $67.2M |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 35% to 39.99% APR | 59,795 | 64.36% | $417.4M |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 40% to 69.99% APR | 9,495 | 10.22% | $62.9M |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 70% to 99.99% APR | 0 | 0.00% | $0.0M |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 100% or more APR | 0 | 0.00% | $0.0M |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | Variable Rate | 4 | 0.00% | $0.0M |
| $10,000 and more | Under 15% APR | 448,816 | 84.90% | $51,518.5M |
| $10,000 and more | 15% to 19.99% APR | 16,263 | 3.08% | $367.1M |
| $10,000 and more | 20% to 24.99% APR | 11,303 | 2.14% | $204.2M |
| $10,000 and more | 25% to 29.99% APR | 6,160 | 1.17% | $105.1M |
| $10,000 and more | 30% to 34.99% APR | 12,810 | 2.42% | $194.7M |
| $10,000 and more | 35% to 39.99% APR | 28,237 | 5.34% | $376.9M |
| $10,000 and more | 40% to 69.99% APR | 1,011 | 0.19% | $14.5M |
| $10,000 and more | 70% to 99.99% APR | 161 | 0.03% | $2.6M |
| $10,000 and more | 100% or more APR | 163 | 0.03% | $77.2M |
| $10,000 and more | Variable Rate | 3,698 | 0.70% | $1,626.3M |
Principal in millions of dollars, converted from the report’s thousands; the CSV keeps the original values. Shares are of the number of loans in each size group. “Variable rate” loans have a rate that can change and are not assigned to a band.
Source
California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, 2024 Annual Report of Operation of Finance Lenders, Brokers, and PACE Administrators Licensed Under the California Financing Law, Exhibit G and Key Findings, downloaded October 25, 2026. This is a California state government publication; we have reproduced its figures without change, apart from converting units and calculating shares. DFPI does not endorse this page. Our table is available under CC BY 4.0; please also credit DFPI as the source. Credit "My Credit Guide (mycreditguide.org)".
Steven Reynolds, "California Consumer Loans by Interest Rate," My Credit Guide, October 25, 2026, https://mycreditguide.org/data/california-consumer-loans-by-apr/.