How much can I borrow, and what does each amount cost?

The state caps come first

Before anything about you is considered, the state you live in sets a hard ceiling. Texas caps loans at $1,000. Missouri, Wisconsin and Utah allow up to $1,500. The floor in all four is $100. These limits come from the licences the lender holds and are not open to negotiation, so no amount of income history moves them.

Galt Credit advertises “up to $1,000” to new customers on its own homepage, which is a fair description of what most first-time borrowers see. The $1,500 ceiling in the three direct-lending states is realistically a returning-customer figure.

What decides your number

Three things carry most of the weight. The first is verifiable recurring income — not just how much but how regular, which is why three months with the same employer is a requirement rather than a preference. The second is the state of your checking account: whether deposits land predictably, whether the balance goes negative often, and whether existing debits already consume most of what arrives. The third is the state cap above.

Your credit score sits well down that list. A soft credit check is run, and it contributes, but it does not act as the gate. This is the reason a low score does not end the conversation and also the reason a good score does not unlock a bigger loan than the cap allows.

Ask for what you need, not the maximum

The most common avoidable mistake is requesting the ceiling because it is offered. Every extra hundred dollars carries the same proportional cost as the first hundred, so an amount chosen to cover the actual bill costs materially less than a round number chosen for comfort. Work out the figure you need, add nothing for slack, and request that.

Cost by amount

The table below models twelve bi-weekly payments using the cost structure published in the lender’s Texas fee schedule. It is an illustration, not a quote. Texas borrowers cannot request more than $1,000, so the last two rows apply to Missouri, Wisconsin and Utah only.

Estimates built from the lender’s published Texas schedule at approximately 598% APR over twelve bi-weekly payments. Your APR, payment and total depend on your state, pay frequency and qualifications, and appear in your loan agreement before you sign.

Growing the limit

The ceiling above a first loan moves for one reason: a completed loan repaid as agreed. There is no shortcut, no fee to raise it, and no benefit to applying repeatedly in a short window. Finish one loan on schedule and a later request is assessed against that record as well as against your income.

It is worth saying plainly that repeat borrowing is not a goal to aim for. If each loan is being taken to cover the payments on the last one, the amount available is not the problem and a larger limit will not help. That is the point to call a nonprofit credit counsellor instead.