Connecticut and Louisiana are poised to become the latest states to enact earned wage access (EWA) laws, as bills await signatures from Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry. The Connecticut bill passed on June 4, 2025, and the Louisiana bill passed on June 3.
Connecticut and Louisiana will join Indiana, Maryland, Arkansas, Utah, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, South Carolina and Wisconsin as the states to enact EWA legislation within the last two years. Last year, California regulators issued their own rulemaking on the product, and attorneys general from Arizona and Montana issued favorable opinions on EWA in 2022 and 2023, bringing the total number of states to weigh in on EWA to more than a dozen.
Connecticut’s EWA Bill
In a significant policy shift, Connecticut is set to bring EWA back into the fold after providers were effectively sidelined in 2024 following guidance from the Department of Banking, which categorized EWA as a small loan.
After two years of debate and negotiation, Senate Bill 1396 still classifies EWA services as small loans, but creates a tailored fee cap for EWA in lieu of the small loan law’s 36% APR cap. SB 1396 caps the total finance charge for EWA at $4 per advance or $30 per month, the lowest fee cap of any EWA bill to date. The bill caps advances at $750 and limits advances to one per pay period if the provider does not allow users to access at least 75% of their wages.
Also unique to Connecticut is the bill’s requirement that earned wages be “verified” by a provider, by payroll data or other method approved by the Banking Commissioner, and its prohibition on setting default tip amounts above $0. Both these provisions present compliance challenges for certain providers, particularly direct-to-consumer.
Notably, the bill requires providers to implement policies and procedures to prevent Connecticut users from performing multiple EWA transactions from multiple providers “on the basis of the same earned but unpaid wage,” and prohibits class action waivers.
Like other states, Connecticut’s bill requires providers to offer a no-cost option and prohibits charging late fees, sharing fees with employers, engaging in credit reporting or compelling repayment via collection agencies, unsolicited phone calls or litigation.
The bill exempts employers who pay their employees prior to pay day by excluding from the definition of small loan, “a wage…paid by an employer directly to an employee prior to a regular pay day.”
If signed by Lamont, the bill would go into effect Oct. 1, 2025, and EWA providers will likely return to the state after a nearly two-year pause.
Louisiana’s EWA Act
In contrast to Connecticut, H.B. 368 follows the roadmap of most other states and makes clear that a provider shall not be deemed to be engaging in lending, money transmission or debt collection. This bill requires providers to implement policies and procedures for responding to consumer questions and complaints, provide transparent fee disclosures, allow cancellation at any time without incurring a fee and offer at least one no-cost option. Providers may not require a credit score to determine eligibility for EWA services, accept tips or other fees via credit card, charge late fees, initiate a civil suit to recover outstanding fees, make unsolicited outbound phone calls, use a third party to pursue collection of outstanding proceeds or sell any outstanding amounts to a third-party debt collector.
McGuireWoods’ Financial Services Litigation and Securities Enforcement & Regulatory Counseling Practices advise EWA clients and monitors legislation. For questions about EWA legislation and its impact, contact the authors of this alert.
About the Authors
Aaron Marienthal is a San Francisco partner in the firm’s Financial Services Litigation and Securities Enforcement & Regulatory Counseling Practices, and one of the country’s leading authorities in EWA regulation. Aaron previously served as general counsel of leading EWA provider Payactiv, Inc. where he was instrumental in developing the country’s first EWA legislation.
Alex Farley is a San Francisco associate in the firm’s Financial Services Litigation Practice. She counsels clients in the EWA space, in addition to her practice representing clients in complex litigation and regulatory matters.