Payday Loans Temple TX: The City's 20% Rule
Payday loans in Temple, Texas are capped at 20% of the borrower's gross monthly income — City of Temple Ordinance No. 2015-4739, on the books since December 2015, folds Temple into the same municipal model Austin, Round Rock, and roughly 45 other Texas cities use to fill the gap state law leaves open. Any credit access business operating inside city limits has to register annually under Chapter 41 of the Temple Code of Ordinances or lose the right to write a loan here. That's real oversight — though the fee itself stays completely unregulated by the state, ordinance or not.
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Temple didn't wait on Austin lawmakers to fix a gap they'd left wide open. On December 17, 2015, the city council passed Ordinance No. 2015-4739, folded into Chapter 41 of the Temple Code of Ordinances, and it does two things a Texas credit access business can't ignore. First, it caps a single cash advance at 20% of the borrower's gross monthly income. Second, it requires that CAB to register with the city every single year — no registration, no legal loan.
A companion measure, Zoning Ordinance No. 2015-4770, went further and restricted where a CAB storefront can even set up shop. Compare that to a city like Georgetown, forty-some miles south, which never passed anything like it — a Temple lender answers to more than just the Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner and Finance Code Chapter 393. Not every Texas city bothered.
Temple Payday Loan Rules — What Applies Here
- Lender type: Credit access businesses (CABs), licensed by Texas OCCC
- Local ordinance: City Ordinance No. 2015-4739 (Chapter 41), adopted December 2015
- Loan amount cap: 20% of the borrower's gross monthly income
- City registration: Required annually — unregistered CABs can't legally operate
- Zoning: Companion Ordinance No. 2015-4770 restricts where storefronts can locate
- State regulator: Texas OCCC — (800) 538-1579 — occc.texas.gov
Two Corporate Names on the Building, Neither One Needs This Loan
Temple's business page reads well. McLane Company — the Berkshire Hathaway-owned supply chain and distribution giant — has been headquartered here since it was founded. Wilsonart, the laminate manufacturer, runs its headquarters off Wilsonart Drive with roughly 1,450 employees drawn from around Central Texas. Two recognizable corporate names, one mid-size Texas city. Neither workforce is walking into a CAB on 31st Street on a Thursday afternoon.
The Temple Medical & Educational District sits less than two miles south of downtown — Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, the Texas A&M Health Science Center campus, and a VA hospital, all clustered together. Healthcare now accounts for more than 40% of Temple's workforce, per the Temple Economic Development Corporation. A lot of that is nursing and administration. A lot of it is also CNAs, techs, food service, and environmental services staff working hourly, not salaried, shifts.
Add the distribution side: an H-E-B center employing around 900, a Walmart facility around 714, a Pactiv/Reynolds Consumer Products plant near 700. None of those are headline jobs. Temple's median household income runs around $68,204 — a number that includes the McLane and Wilsonart salaries pulling it up, and the warehouse and hospital-floor wages pulling it right back down.
What a Payday Loan Actually Costs in Temple
Texas sets no statewide rate ceiling, and Temple's ordinance regulates size, not price — so the fee math looks the same here as almost everywhere else in the state.
Temple Payday Loan Cost Examples
- $300 loan (14-day term): $55–$95 fee → repay $355–$395
- $500 loan (14-day term): $85–$140 fee → repay $585–$640
- $700 loan (30-day term): $115–$190 fee → repay $815–$890
Effective APRs on these terms commonly run 320%–680%. The 20% income cap limits how big a loan gets approved in the first place — a borrower clearing $2,400 a month can't legally be written a loan above $480 here, whatever the fee ends up costing on top of it.
That size cap is real protection, and it's worth saying so. It just doesn't touch the fee. Renew a $300 loan a couple of times and the fees can catch up to the principal fast — the ordinance never claimed to stop that part.
Storefronts in Temple — And Where They Cluster
ACE Cash Express operates at 1416 S 31st Street, not far from the TMED corridor. Check `n Go runs a location at 1616A SW H.K. Dodgen Loop. Texas Car Title and Payday Loan Services, Inc. sits at 211 N General Bruce Drive — (254) 773-3442. Along W. Adams Avenue you'll also find TitleMax and LoanStar Title Loans, though both of those write title loans rather than straight cash advances, which is a different product with its own set of rules.
The zoning ordinance passed alongside 2015-4739 keeps new CAB locations from clustering wherever they want, which is part of why the map looks the way it does — spread along the commercial corridors rather than stacked three to a block. Whichever storefront you're considering, ask for the OCCC license number and confirm the city registration is current. Both are checkable, and neither takes more than a phone call.
Before You Sign: Where Temple Residents Can Turn First
Extraco Banks offers personal loans at rates nowhere near a CAB's arrangement fee, with a branch at 3615 S 31st Street and another downtown at 18 S Main Street — (254) 774-5500. St. Vincent De Paul of Greater Temple runs a food pantry and thrift store for immediate need. Churches Touching Lives for Christ (CTLC) serves more than 2,000 households a month with food and utility assistance.
- Extraco Banks: Personal loans. 3615 S 31st Street or 18 S Main Street, (254) 774-5500.
- St. Vincent De Paul of Greater Temple: Food pantry and thrift store, serving East Bell County.
- Churches Touching Lives for Christ (CTLC): Food pantry and utility assistance, 2,000+ households monthly.
- United Way of Central Texas: Case management and referrals for housing, utility, and food needs.
- 211 Texas: Dial 211, available 24 hours, for emergency financial assistance across Bell County.
Temple's 20% cap and its annual registration requirement are the only real checks standing between a borrower and whatever a Temple CAB wants to charge on top. That borrower is a lot more likely to be a hospital tech from the TMED corridor or a picker from the H-E-B distribution floor than anyone with a McLane or Wilsonart badge — and knowing the ordinance exists is worth less than knowing what it doesn't cover.
Frequently Asked Questions About Payday Loans in Temple
Does Temple have its own payday loan ordinance?
Yes. City of Temple Ordinance No. 2015-4739, adopted December 17, 2015 and codified as Chapter 41 of the Temple Code of Ordinances, requires every credit access business (CAB) inside city limits to register annually with the city and caps a single cash advance at 20% of the borrower's gross monthly income. A companion zoning ordinance, No. 2015-4770, restricts where those storefronts can locate. It's the same municipal model roughly 45 other Texas cities — Austin, Round Rock, Killeen, and Waco among them — use to fill the gap Texas Finance Code Chapter 393 leaves wide open at the state level.
How much does a payday loan cost in Temple?
Texas sets no statewide fee cap, and Temple's ordinance regulates loan size, not price. A $300 loan over a 14-day term commonly runs $55–$95 in fees, a $500 loan over the same term runs $85–$140, and a $700 loan stretched to 30 days lands around $115–$190 — effective APRs of roughly 320%–680%. The 20% income cap does limit how large a loan a Temple CAB can legally write against a given paycheck; someone earning $3,000 a month can't be approved for more than $600 here, ordinance or not.
Where are the payday loan stores in Temple?
ACE Cash Express operates at 1416 S 31st Street. Check `n Go runs a location at 1616A SW H.K. Dodgen Loop. Texas Car Title and Payday Loan Services, Inc. is at 211 N General Bruce Drive — (254) 773-3442. A couple of title-loan-only outfits, including TitleMax and LoanStar Title Loans, sit along W. Adams Avenue but write title loans rather than straight payday advances. Confirm any storefront's current OCCC license and city registration before signing anything.
Temple has two corporate headquarters and a major hospital district — who's actually borrowing?
Not the people whose names end up in the press release. McLane Company, the Berkshire Hathaway-owned distribution giant, has been headquartered in Temple since its founding, and Wilsonart runs its laminate-manufacturing headquarters off Wilsonart Drive with roughly 1,450 employees. Neither workforce looks much like the borrower at a 31st Street CAB. That's more likely someone from the Temple Medical & Educational District — Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, the Texas A&M Health Science Center campus, or the VA hospital nearby — where healthcare accounts for more than 40% of the city's jobs, plus the H-E-B and Walmart distribution centers a few miles out. Temple's median household income sits around $68,204; the CNA, the tech, and the warehouse picker are the ones pulling that number down toward the paycheck that actually needs a $300 advance.
What should I try before a payday loan in Temple?
Extraco Banks offers personal loans at rates nowhere near a CAB's arrangement fee, with branches at 3615 S 31st Street and 18 S Main Street downtown — (254) 774-5500. St. Vincent De Paul of Greater Temple runs a food pantry and thrift store for immediate need. Churches Touching Lives for Christ (CTLC) serves more than 2,000 households a month with food and utility assistance. United Way of Central Texas can connect residents to case management and further referrals. Texas 211 is available 24 hours for statewide emergency financial assistance.