Compare legal limits, fees and the true cost of small loans in your state before you talk to any lender. Compare legal limits, fees and the true cost of small loans in your state.
Credit Unions vs Payday Loans in Idaho
20 credit unions are headquartered in Idaho, with 1,412,101 members in total. 10 are federal credit unions and 10 are state-chartered; all are federally insured by the NCUA.
- Credit unions
- 20
- Members
- 1.4M
- Federal
- 10
- State-chartered
- 10
- Members per 100 people
- 75
- CUs per 100k people
- 1.1
Credit unions vs payday loan stores in Idaho
Idaho has 79 payday, installment and title loan stores but only 20 credit unions headquartered here — about 4.0 loan stores for every credit union. Local credit unions count 1,412,101 members — roughly 75 memberships per 100 residents.
Credit unions
20
1.1 per 100k residents
1.4M members
Payday & loan stores
79
4.2 per 100k residents
11 store chains
Biggest loan store chains in Idaho: Security Finance (20), Dollar Loan Center (15), Moneytree (11), Check 'n Go (8), OneMain Financial (8).
What a $500 loan costs over 3 months
| Option | Payment | Total cost |
|---|---|---|
| Payday loan, re-borrowed 6 times (~652%+ APR) | $75.00 every 2 weeks | $450.00 |
| Credit union PAL, 3 monthly payments (28% APR + $20 fee) | $174.50 a month | $43.51 |
- You keep with a credit union PAL over 3 months
- $406.49 payday costs 10× more
Payday: a typical fee of $75 on a $500 loan for 2 weeks (ID limits are not set in dollars), paid 6 times in 3 months. PAL: payday alternative loan from a federal credit union, capped at 28% APR with an application fee of up to $20.
What it means for a household in Idaho
- Median household income
- $76,311
- Payday fee of $75, share of two weeks' income
- 2.6%
- Hours of work to pay the $75 fee
- 4.3 hours
- PAL payment of $174.50, share of monthly income
- 2.7%
- A $400 emergency equals
- 1.9 days of income
- Households earning under $25,000
- 13.0%
- Residents below the poverty line
- 10.7%
Income and poverty: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, by ZIP code; figures for Idaho are population-weighted and approximate. Hours of work are based on the median individual income.
Payday loans vs credit union PALs: the rules in Idaho
| Payday loan in ID | Credit union PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal status | Allowed | Offered by many federal credit unions |
| Loan amount | $1,000 or 25% of gross income | $200 – $2,000 |
| Fee limit | No strict state limit (N/A) | Application fee up to $20 |
| Typical APR | ~652%+ | Up to 28% |
| Term | Usually 2–4 weeks, due in one payment | 1 to 12 months, in installments |
| Credit check | Usually none; a bank account and income are required | Membership required; payments can be reported to credit bureaus |
Payday rules: Idaho law as summarized on our Idaho payday page. PAL rules: National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) rules for federal credit unions (PAL I and PAL II); state-chartered credit unions may offer similar small loans.
Credit unions by city in Idaho
Credit unions are headquartered in 12 cities and towns across Idaho. Pick a city for addresses and websites, or scroll down for the smaller towns.
All credit unions in Idaho
| Credit union | Headquarters | Members | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho Central Credit UnionState-chartered | Chubbuck | 788,996 | iccu.com |
| Potlatch No. 1 Financial Credit UnionState-chartered | Lewiston | 127,755 | p1fcu.org |
| Capital Educators Federal Credit UnionFederal | Meridian | 100,316 | caped.com |
| Westmark Credit UnionState-chartered | Idaho Falls | 83,827 | westmark.org |
| Frontier Credit UnionState-chartered | Idaho Falls | 53,045 | frontiercreditunion.com |
| Pioneer Federal Credit UnionFederal | Mountain Home | 47,722 | pioneerfcu.org |
| Beehive Federal Credit UnionFederal | Rexburg | 33,759 | beehive.org |
| Lookout Federal Credit UnionFederal | Pocatello | 25,822 | lookoutcu.com |
| Trugrocer Federal Credit UnionFederal | Boise | 22,572 | trugrocer.com |
| Lewis Clark Credit UnionState-chartered | Lewiston | 21,753 | lewisclarkcu.org |
| Advantage Plus Federal Credit UnionFederal | Pocatello | 21,494 | advantageplus.org |
| Clarity Credit UnionState-chartered | Nampa | 19,344 | claritycu.com |
| Connections Credit UnionState-chartered | Pocatello | 19,329 | connectidaho.org |
| Freedom Northwest Credit UnionState-chartered | Kamiah | 13,031 | fnwcu.org |
| Cottonwood Community Federal Credit UnionFederal | Cottonwood | 10,067 | ccfcu.co |
| Rails West Federal Credit UnionFederal | Pocatello | 7,520 | railswestcu.org |
| Idaho United Credit UnionState-chartered | Boise | 5,856 | idahounited.org |
| Simplot Credit UnionState-chartered | Pocatello | 5,482 | pocsimplotcu.com |
| Sei Federal Credit UnionFederal | Pocatello | 3,138 | seius.org |
| Snake River Federal Credit UnionFederal | Twin Falls | 1,273 | snakeriverfcu.com |
Credit unions in smaller towns of Idaho
Other cities and towns in Idaho where credit unions are headquartered, and how many there are in each.
- Chubbuck 1
- Cottonwood 1
- Kamiah 1
- Lewiston 2
- Mountain Home 1
Credit unions are listed in the city of their headquarters; many have branches in other cities and accept members from across the state or the country, so members per 100 people is an approximation.