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The short answer
Access Bank's PayDay Loan is a one-month loan of up to 75% of your monthly salary, repaid from your next salary or within 30 days. Salary Advance is a six-month loan of up to 200% of your monthly salary, for customers whose salary is paid into an Access account. Both are requested through *901*11#, the QuickBucks app or the Access mobile app, per the bank's FAQs as at October 2026.
Access Bank runs several salary-backed loans, and two of them are easy to confuse because the bank files both under its PayDay Loan scheme and both are requested on the same USSD code. The difference is in how long you have to repay, how much you can borrow and who can apply. This guide sets the two side by side using the bank's own FAQ pages, read in October 2026, and shows what each one costs on a worked example.
The two products in one table
| PayDay Loan | Salary Advance | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can apply | Salary earners who meet the bank's risk criteria; salary need not be paid into Access | Access salary account holders; account active at least six months |
| Maximum amount | Up to 75% of monthly salary, minus active loan repayments | Up to 200% of monthly salary, minus active loans |
| Cap | ₦2,000,000 on the FAQ page (₦1,000,000 in the older PDF table) | ₦5,000,000 |
| Repayment | Next salary or 30 days, whichever comes first | Monthly over six months (180 days) |
| Interest | 7% flat on the FAQ page (12% in the PDF table) | 10% on reducing balance |
| Upfront fees | 1% management fee, 0.5% credit life insurance | 1% management fee, 1% credit life insurance |
| Late charge | 1% per month from 31 days past due | 1% per month from 30 days past due |
Who qualifies for each
The PayDay Loan is the wider door. The bank says your salary does not have to be domiciled at Access; salaries processed through Remita also qualify, and an Access account is opened for the loan to land in. The Salary Advance is narrower: your salary must be paid into your Access account, and that account must have been active for at least six months. The minimum salary for Salary Advance is given as ₦30,000 in the Salary Advance PDF and ₦50,000 on the PayDay FAQ page, so treat the higher figure as the safe assumption until the bank confirms.
For both, the bank lists the same things that shrink or block your eligible amount:
- outstanding loans at Access or at other banks
- a phone number not linked to your BVN
- no salary payment seen in the previous month
- other digital loans that already exceed your eligible amount
If your existing monthly repayments are larger than the amount you would be eligible for, the bank says you cannot take the loan at all. Lenders read this from your account and from credit bureau records; our guide to how credit bureaus work in Nigeria explains what they see.
What each costs: two worked examples
Example: PayDay Loan of ₦100,000
Using the FAQ page figures, interest (7% flat), management fee (1%) and insurance (0.5%) add up to 8.5%, and the bank says they are deducted upfront. On ₦100,000 that is ₦8,500 taken at the start, so ₦91,500 reaches your account and ₦100,000 is deducted from your next salary. If the PDF's 12% interest applied instead, the deduction would be ₦13,500 and you would receive ₦86,500. Because the loan runs for about a month, either figure is a monthly cost, not a yearly one; our explainer on flat fees versus APR shows why that matters.
Example: Salary Advance of ₦200,000
Take a salary of ₦100,000, which supports up to ₦200,000 (200%). The upfront charges are 1% plus 1%, so ₦4,000. The FAQ says interest is 10% on reducing balance but does not say whether the 10% is per year or per month, and the answer changes the cost a great deal. Assuming equal principal repayments of ₦33,333.33 a month:
- If 10% is a yearly rate: interest is about ₦5,833 over six months, so total charges are about ₦9,833.
- If 10% is a monthly rate: interest is ₦70,000 over six months, so total charges are ₦74,000.
Ask the bank which applies before you accept, and read the repayment schedule shown in the offer. The schedule is the real answer.
Which one fits which need
The PayDay Loan suits a short gap: a bill that falls a week before payday, with the whole amount coming back out of the next salary. The Salary Advance suits a larger cost you cannot clear in one month, such as rent or a school term, because it spreads repayment over six instalments. The trade-off is that a six-month loan ties up part of every salary for half a year, which reduces what you can borrow elsewhere.
Both are recovered directly. Repayment is deducted from your salary account on the due date; if the account is empty, the bank takes it from the next money that arrives, and the FAQs say overdue amounts can be recovered from any account linked to your BVN. That is a feature of bank salary loans that many app borrowers do not expect. The salary advance explainer covers how this works across Nigerian lenders.
How these differ from loan apps
A loan app usually prices by the day or the week and sets your limit from phone and transaction data. Access Bank's salary loans price against your salary, recover from your salary account and are regulated as bank products by the CBN. Before taking any app loan instead, check the lender on the FCCPC register; our guide to checking a loan app's registration walks through it.
Where Pryme fits
Pryme does not offer salary advances. Pryme Financial Ltd is a technology company; Loans on Spaces are lent by Solid Allianze Microfinance Bank and can only be spent with merchants in Spaces. A limit may be offered based on how your account is run, and the full agreement, with amount, cost and repayment date, is shown for you to accept before anything is drawn.
What to check first
- Which product the offer screen names: PayDay Loan or Salary Advance.
- The interest figure and whether it is flat, monthly or yearly.
- The amount that will actually reach your account after upfront deductions.
- The repayment date or schedule, and your other loan repayments.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between Access Bank PayDay Loan and Salary Advance?
PayDay Loan is up to 75% of monthly salary repaid at your next salary or within 30 days. Salary Advance is up to 200% of monthly salary repaid monthly over six months, and needs your salary paid into Access.
Can I get Access Bank salary advance if my salary is not in Access?
Not the Salary Advance: the bank says your salary must be paid into an Access account active for six months. The PayDay Loan accepts salaries paid elsewhere, including through Remita.
What is the code for Access Bank salary advance?
Access Bank lists *901*11# for both products, alongside the QuickBucks app and the Access mobile app's Loans & Investments section.
How much can I borrow on Access Bank Salary Advance?
Up to 200% of your monthly salary, less active loans, capped at ₦5,000,000 per the bank's Salary Advance FAQ as at October 2026.
Sources
- Access Bank: PayDay Loan FAQs · accessed Oct 2026
- Access Bank: Salary Advance FAQs (PDF) · accessed Oct 2026
- Access Bank: PayDay loan product page · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.