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 New Hampshire
12 credit unions are headquartered in New Hampshire, with 845,369 members in total. 5 are federal credit unions and 7 are state-chartered; all are federally insured by the NCUA.
- Credit unions
- 12
- Members
- 845,369
- Federal
- 5
- State-chartered
- 7
- Members per 100 people
- 61
- CUs per 100k people
- 0.9
Credit unions vs payday loan stores in New Hampshire
New Hampshire has 12 credit unions headquartered here and 9 payday, installment and title loan stores. Local credit unions count 845,369 members — roughly 61 memberships per 100 residents.
Credit unions
12
0.9 per 100k residents
845,369 members
Payday & loan stores
9
0.6 per 100k residents
2 store chains
Biggest loan store chains in New Hampshire: OneMain Financial (6), loanDepot (3).
Borrowing $500 for 6 months in New Hampshire
| Option | Payment | Total cost of borrowing |
|---|---|---|
| Installment loan at the New Hampshire rate cap (36% APR) | $92.30/mo | $53.79 |
| Credit union PAL (28% APR) | $90.27/mo | $41.62 |
| Payday loan renewed every 2 weeks (typical $15 per $100, not available in New Hampshire) | $75.00 every 2 weeks | $975.00 |
- Monthly payment at the New Hampshire rate cap vs median monthly household income
- 1.1%
Example calculation with fixed monthly payments; the payday row shows typical out-of-state pricing for comparison. Actual rates and terms vary by lender.
What it means for a household in New Hampshire
- Median household income
- $100,699
- A $400 emergency equals
- 1.4 days of income
- Households earning under $25,000
- 10.3%
- Residents below the poverty line
- 7.3%
Income and poverty: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, by ZIP code; figures for New Hampshire are population-weighted and approximate. Hours of work are based on the median individual income.
Payday loans vs credit union PALs: the rules in New Hampshire
| Payday loan in NH | Credit union PAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal status | Not allowed — storefront payday loans are banned | Offered by many federal credit unions |
| Rate cap | Capped at 36% APR | 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: New Hampshire law as summarized on our New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire
Credit unions are headquartered in 7 cities and towns across New Hampshire. Pick a city for addresses and websites, or scroll down for the smaller towns.
All credit unions in New Hampshire
| Credit union | Headquarters | Members | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Federal Credit UnionFederal | Portsmouth | 383,839 | servicecu.org |
| Lighthouse Federal Credit UnionFederal | Dover | 168,543 | lighthousecu.org |
| St. Mary's Bank Credit UnionState-chartered | Manchester | 102,473 | stmarysbank.com |
| Granite State Credit UnionState-chartered | Manchester | 53,516 | gscu.org |
| Triangle Credit UnionState-chartered | Nashua | 53,195 | trianglecu.org |
| Holy Rosary Credit UnionState-chartered | Rochester | 25,316 | hrcu.org |
| Bellwether Community Credit UnionState-chartered | Manchester | 24,377 | bccu.org |
| New Hampshire Federal Credit UnionFederal | Concord | 15,242 | nhfcu.org |
| Members First Credit Union of N.H.State-chartered | Manchester | 12,922 | membersfirstnh.org |
| New Hampshire Postal Credit UnionState-chartered | Manchester | 3,036 | nhpcu.com |
| Precision Federal Credit UnionFederal | Keene | 1,743 | tspcu.org |
| N G M Employees Federal Credit UnionFederal | Keene | 1,167 | ngmefcu.com |
Credit unions in smaller towns of New Hampshire
Other cities and towns in New Hampshire where credit unions are headquartered, and how many there are in each.
- Dover 1
- Keene 2
- Portsmouth 1
- Rochester 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.