There are many situations where individuals need financial assistance, either for a long period of time or just a short period of time. Payday loans are designed in order to help people who need short-term financial assistance. Applicants may be able to receive short-term loans which are designed to be paid back by the time the applicant receives their next paycheck. Different individuals need different amounts of money based on their own individual needs and priorities.

As such, applicants will often apply for different amounts of money based on how much money they need. Payday loan amounts are determined by the individual loan companies with helpful guidelines as defined by the state or federal legislation. The government helps companies to set their rules and regulations when it comes to loans. They have intentions to help individuals by protecting the amount of money that they, as applicants, can receive from a loan or cash advance lending establishment. Government regulations help to ensure that individuals are not taken advantage of by such lending companies. Often, federal and local governments share the joint responsibility of regulating these types of short-term loans.

In addition to the regulations set up by the federal or state government, there are a number of rules that the individual loan companies may put into place in order to determine a maximum loan amount for a specific individual. Primarily what loan companies will look at is the overall amount that an individual is able to earn and take home over the course of a month. This is referred to as the monthly take home income of the individual. Many short-term and Payday loan companies will not exceed a given loan of a specific percentage of the person's take home income, regardless of how much money the individual is applying for in their loan amount. If a person requests more money than the percentage set forth by the company, they will not receive the total amount of money requested in their application. One frequently used percentage is thirty percent of the individual's take home income. The reason that a set percentage is often used by the company is in order to make sure that the individual will be reasonably and financially prepared to pay back the loan that they are able to receive for the short-term period of the loan. The information to cross-reference such regulations and percentages is given to the company by the applicant on their application form when they inquire about their own, individualized loan or cash advance.

In order to receive a loan at all from a cash advance company, there are often criteria that the individual needs to meet in general. In most instances, applicants need to have a minimum age of eighteen years old and they need to have a job. The income from their job needs to be deposited into their checking account, the having of which is also a requirement for many short-term loan and cash advance companies. Despite the rules and regulations that are set forth, it is much easier to get a short-term loan from a Payday or cash advance office as compared to a long-term or traditional lending establishment.