In March, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 132 to lower the cap on small loan interest rates from 175% to 36%.

It was a historic win for long-time advocates like Guadalupe Credit Union and Chief of Financial Empowerment Diane Sandoval-Griego who credited our financial coaching methodology and software platform Pathways with helping to make the case to policymakers: “Data from Pathways became quite useful in our advocacy efforts in New Mexico, a historic win against predatory debt,” she said.

The legislation enacts a 36% maximum rate of interest chargeable under the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act of 1959 and the New Mexico Small Loan Act of 1955, limiting such loans to the same maximum annual percentage permitted by the U.S. Department of Defense for active-duty members of the military, according to a press release from the governor.