A loan of payday or an advance is small, short-term loan (in general up to $500) without control of credit which is designed to establish the bond of the cash-flow of the borrower between the days of wages. The note, however, that the advance of limit can also mean the money cash provided against A prearranged the credit limit such as a credit card.

The loan typically is given cash and fixed by the post-dated control of the borrower who includes the main thing of original loan and the increased interest. The date of maturity usually coincides with the day of wages following of the borrower. The date of maturity processes of lender control traditionally or by the electronic withdrawal of the account of the cheque of the borrower.

The lenders of payday typically actuate small stores or concessions, but the large suppliers of financial service also offer variations on the advance of payday. Some traditional banks offer "a direct advance of deposit" for the customers whose cheques of payment are deposited electronically. A certain preparation of income tax strengthens the associate with lenders to offer "loans of anticipation of refunding" to the filers.

As of 2001, payday lending is legal in Canada and in twenty-five of the United States. Elsewhere in the US, a payday lender may affiliate with an out-of-state chartered bank to conduct business.