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LendUp was one of the only payday lenders that reported on-time payments to the three major credit bureaus. With credit reporting, you could actually improve your credit score and build a good credit history. But LendUp has run into some trouble with regulators after it failed to report repayments as often as it promised and overcharging service members.
And as of 2021, LendUp is no longer offering loans at all. However, there are many other sites like LendUp.
Like LendUp, OppLoans offers installment and title loans that can improve your credit score. But you can borrow larger amounts right away, and its APRs — while high — are lower than what LendUp offers first-time borrowers. But it's a little harder to qualify for than LendUp. It requires you to get your monthly income via direct deposit into a bank account that is at least 90 days old.
Not available in: Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia
NetCredit offers installment loans to borrowers of all credit types. While its interest rates are high compared to a personal loan, they're much lower than what you'll find with LendUp. But skip this lender if all you need is a few hundred dollars — NetCredit's installment loans start at $1,000.
Not available in: Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia
Monevo is a service you can use to get connected with a personal loan provider. It has options for good, fair and bad credit and can help you find a personal loan as low as $500. And because its partners only offer personal loans, rates stop at 35.99% APR.
Fiona — formally Even Financial — is a connection service and comparison site that helps people with credit scores as low as 550 find personal loans. Sites like these help you avoid payday loans by allowing you to compare multiple offers from long-term lenders. You can look for loan amounts as low as $1,000 up to $250,000, and APRs range from 3.49% to 35.99%.
MoneyLion's Credit Builder Plus personal loan is resigned to help people with bad or no credit build their credit scores. It offers lower APRs than you'll find with almost all bad credit providers and there is no minimum. But you won't receive your funds right away. Your repayments go into a locked savings account that you can access after you pay off the loan. And you have to pay a monthly membership fee of $19.99.
Not available in: Colorado, Connecticut, New York, Vermont, West Virginia
RISE Credit is an installment loan provider that offers loans from $500 to $5,000 with no minimum credit score. And it can be helpful if you find yourself borrowing more than once a year — it offers lower rates to repeat borrowers who make on-time payments. But repayments are due once every two weeks. And while rates are lower than LendUp, they can still be high compared to installment lenders.
Available in: Alabama, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin
This payday lender and installment loan provider doesn't report your payments to the three credit bureaus. But it offers what other providers on this list don't: Loans as low as $50. That makes this a better choice for small emergencies that LendUp and similar providers fund. But that convenience will cost you with high rates and fees.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
LendUp is no longer offering loans. It used to be a solid choice for borrowers looking to improve their credit and get the funds they need, but it wasn’t always following through.
The most recent lawsuit revolved around LendUp violating Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) orders, and there have been two other lawsuits against LendUp in the past.
Most recently in December 2020, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against LendUp. It states that LendUp allegedly violated the Military Lending Act (MLA) by charging active-duty service members and their dependents APRs over the legal limit of 36%. It also states that LendUp allegedly included an arbitration clause — which is against the MLA — in its contracts and failed to make required disclosures.
Luckily, there are many other lenders like LendUp. Here’s a quick recap of the alternatives:
Anna Serio is a lead editor at Finder, specializing in consumer and business lending. A trusted lending expert and former commercial loan officer, Anna's written more than 1,000 articles on Finder to help Americans strengthen their financial literacy. Her expertise and analysis on personal, student, business and car loans has been featured in Business Insider, CNBC and the Simple Dollar, and she was recognized as an expert contributor in finance by Best Company in 2020. Anna holds an MA in Near and Middle Eastern studies from the American University of Beirut and a BA in creative writing and Arabic from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, CUNY.
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