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Full Review of OppLoans
Short-term installment loans, or OppLoans, are provided by lender Opportunity Financial, or OppFi. Although the company promotes OppLoans as quick, inexpensive alternatives to payday loans, rates can still reach 160%. OppLoans borrowers do not undergo a credit check.
Unless you have exhausted all other borrowing options, NerdWallet does not recommend loans with annual percentage rates above 36%. Additionally, OppFi urges borrowers to look for less expensive loans if they are eligible.
In some states, the lender provides loans directly, while in many others, loans supported by FinWise, First Electronic, and Capital Community banks are serviced by the lender.
OppLoans rates, fees and terms
APR range |
59% – 160%. |
Loan amount |
$500 – $4,000. |
Fees |
No origination, late or prepayment fees. |
Repayment terms |
9 to 18 months. |
States where available |
AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, DE, FL, HI, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, NV, OH, OK, OR, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI and WY. |
How to qualify for an OppLoans loan
Although OppFi doesn’t check your credit score, it does review information provided by alternative credit bureau Clarity Services, a division of Experian that gathers data on people with bad credit.
This report may contain details about your past dealings with payday loans, auto title loans, and small-dollar lenders online. OppFi examines bank account transaction information as well to determine a candidate’s monthly cash flow.
Here are some requirements to be able to obtain a loan.
OppLoans pros and cons
Reports payments to the three major credit bureaus. Despite not performing a hard credit pull, OppFi reports payments on its OppLoans product to all three major credit bureaus. This means that timely payments could improve your credit while late payments could damage it. Few high-interest lenders report payments to all three credit bureaus, though some do so for one or two of them.
Assistance finding better rates. To determine whether applicants will be eligible for a rate that is lower than what OppFi can offer them, OppFi refers applicants to other lenders. Less than 2% of customers who choose this feature, according to OppFi, complete a loan with a different lender.
Repayment date is set according to the borrowers pay schedule. OppFi claims it bases a loan’s repayment schedule on when a borrower gets paid, as opposed to the bi-weekly or monthly payments that many lenders impose. Borrowers can request a more frequent payment schedule, but in order to switch to a less frequent cycle, they must present updated pay stubs.
Offers financial education. OppFi provides free public education on debt, credit, and spending. The courses consist of a couple short videos and quizzes. These kinds of programs can assist you in understanding your finances and making wise decisions.
Cons
High interest rates. Lenders who provide loans without a credit check are more risky than those who do. They frequently charge high rates to offset that risk. The majority of consumer advocates agree that an affordable loan should have an annual percentage rate of less than 36%, even lower than OppFi’s lowest APRs. Triple-digit interest rates are frequently a red flag that a loan might be challenging to repay on schedule.
The loan principal may be more than half taken up by interest. The interest charges on OppLoans may exceed half of the amount you borrowed. For instance, if you borrowed $1,000 with a 150% APR and a nine-month repayment period, you would pay a total of $1,721 in interest. This may occur when a lender offers lengthy repayment terms and high interest rates for small loans.
Should you get an OppLoans personal loan?
Consider OppLoans a last resort in an emergency. With high-interest loans, it’s simple to fall behind on payments or go over budget. On-time payments can increase your credit score because OppFi reports payment to the three main credit bureaus, while missed payments can lower it.
Depending on your goal, you may have better options. OppLoans is not a good idea if:
How OppLoans compare
Here’s how OppLoans compare with similar loans.
SeedFi offers a personal loan and credit-builder loan in one. Part of the loan is given to a borrower by the lender, and the remainder is kept in a savings account. Borrowers can access the remaining amount of the loan once they have paid off their portion of it and use it as savings. APRs are capped at 29. 99%.
Oportun loans have a 36% maximum APR. If a loan applicant has credit history, the lender takes that into account, but it is not a requirement. Additionally, Oportun claims to process and fund loans in the majority of cases the same day.
Lawsuit against OppFi
OppLoans interest rates in some states exceed the maximums set by those states’ laws. For loans between $2,500 and $10,000, the Fair Access to Credit Act in California, for instance, sets an annual simple interest rate cap of about 36%, but the OppLoans website lists rates as high as 160% for loans in that range.
Because it uses Utah banks to finance loans, where there are no interest rate caps, OppFi asserts that it complies with federal laws.
In November 2021, the lender and the District of Columbia reached a settlement. C. ’s attorney general. According to the lawsuit, OppFi provided district residents with loans with APRs higher than D. C. between February 2018 and May 2020, there is a 24% interest rate cap. The attorney general’s office also charged OppFi with misrepresenting the loans as aiding borrowers in building credit in a statement.
OppFi agreed to pay $1. refunds of $5 million to district customers and a donation of $250,000 to the district Washington, D. C. isn’t on the list of states where OppFi makes loans.
OppLoans personal loan example
According to the lender, a loan with a 150% APR is approved for its typical borrower. A $1,400 OppLoans installment loan with a nine-month repayment period and a 150% APR would have the following costs:
Alternatives to OppLoans
Here are some alternatives that may be cheaper than borrowing.
Seek assistance from neighborhood nonprofits, charities, and religious institutions for help with basic needs. They can assist with getting you access to food, clothing, and transportation for job interviews.
For help with rent or utilities: Contact your utility company, landlord or mortgage issuer for help deferring a payment. If you need long-term help, consider seeking other housing, or contact a housing counselor.
To pay medical bills: Get information on how to pay for medical expenses, such as payment plans.
To cover other one-time emergency expenses:
If you take an OppLoans personal loan
After weighing your options and the costs, you might decide that applying for an OppLoans installment loan is the best course of action. In that case, make sure you have enough money in your budget to pay off the loan as soon as possible. This loan is typically too expensive to be a long-term or recurring solution for most people.
How to get an OppLoans personal loan
on NerdWallets secure website
Due to the increased consumer risk involved with these loans, NerdWallet rates high-interest personal loan providers separately from other lenders. We define high-interest loans as those with interest rates higher than 36%, the rate at which financial experts and consumer advocates agree is the upper bound for an affordable loan. For high-interest lenders that we evaluate, a maximum of four stars is permitted. We give points to lenders who provide loans that reduce harm to consumers through practices that prioritize consumers’ needs, affordability, and transparency. This entails performing credit checks and reporting payments to credit bureaus, limiting monthly payments to 5% of a borrower’s monthly income, fully amortizing repayments, being transparent about loan rates and fees, providing accessible customer service, and providing financial education. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for our star ratings.
Read more about our personal loan methodologies and editorial standards.
Find the Best Personal Loan
OppLoans are installment loans from OppFi, which services loans through banks in many states but directly originates loans in some states. The loans may exceed the state-mandated interest rate caps due to their high interest rates (up to 160%). Though not technically illegal, consumer advocates contest this practice.
There are less expensive ways to achieve your goal of building credit.
There is no minimum credit score requirement for borrowers on OppLoans. Instead, it makes use of information from Clarity Services, a division of Experian that gathers information from prepaid card issuers, check cashers, and small-dollar lenders. OppLoans also takes into account an applicant’s income, bank account transaction data, and information regarding how frequently an applicant has applied for a loan when making a loan decision.
Yes. With the exception of Texas and Ohio, OppLoans reports payments for borrowers in all states where OppLoans are offered to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Amrita Jayakumar is a former writer for NerdWallet. She had previously worked for the Miami Herald and The Washington Post. Read more.
Annie Millerbernd is a personal loans writer. Her articles have appeared in USA Today and The Associated Press. Read more.
FAQ
What loans are not reported to credit bureau?
Many BNPL loans, particularly short-term loans, are not reported to credit bureaus like credit cards are. Because of this, younger or subprime borrowers who choose BNPL loans typically won’t see a negative impact on their credit scores from a history of on-time BNPL payments.
Does OppLoans do a hard credit pull?
OppLoans doesn’t run a hard credit inquiry on your credit report when you apply. OppLoans uses Experian and Clarity Services credit report data instead, which has no effect on your credit score and does not appear on your credit report.
What happens if I don’t pay OppLoans back?
Your credit score will suffer if you stop making OppLoans payments and you may default on the loan, which would result in even more serious credit score damage that would last for years. Other repercussions of not repaying an OppLoans loan include harassment from debt collectors and potential legal action.
Is it safe to give OppLoans my bank info?
Yes. In order to verify your identity and financial information, OppLoans uses an automated bank verification process that gives us a read-only snapshot of your most recent banking transactions.