LendUp Personal Loans Review of December 2024

ElitePersonalFinance
Last Update: March 11, 2023 Loan Reviews

LendUp doesn’t provide loans anymore. If you are looking for a loan, please visit our marketplace.

LendUp in a nutshell

LendUp is a type of improved payday loans companies. Use LendUp, and companies like it only if you can’t get a personal loan and your chances are payday loans only. Payday loans are predatory. They typically offer up to $1,000, with an APR of 400%, and people very often come in a debt cycle. Personal loans typically offer over $5,000, and APR is 5.99% to 35.99%. If we have to define LendUp and companies like them, this will be between personal and payday loans. Typically these companies offer about $1,000 to $5,000, and APR is between 36% to 400%. But these companies seem that don’t want you in a debt cycle. They offer much more flexibility. This means that if you can’t get the loan on time, they will offer you options to delay it, opportunities to skip a payment, refinance options. Some of them work with you to increase your credit score by providing you educational materials or reporting your positive payment history to bureaus. Some of them agree to lower the APR for people who pay their loans on time. Approving these loans is much easier for people with really bad credit. We at ElitePersonalFinance don’t list payday loans and auto title loans and recommend people to avoid them. We list only a few companies of these improved payday loans. We recommend them only if you really can’t get a personal loan.

Loan Amount: $100 – $500
APR: 150% – $1,000% for Single-Payment Loans
30% – 180% for Installment Loans
Min. Credit Score: 0
Approval: < 1 Day
Terms: Vary
Origination Fee: Up to $25%
DTI Ratio: N/A
Check rates

What You have to Know about LendUp Loans?

Fees

If a customer’s payment is returned unpaid by the customer’s bank for reasons such as insufficient funds, LendUp charges a one-time returned check fee of $10 to $15.

  • No application fees.
  • No pre-payment fees.
  • No returned check fees.
  • No annual fees.

LendUp qualification criteria:

  • 18 years old,
  • U.S. citizen, permanent resident,
  • SSN or passport,
  • Min. credit score: 0,
  • A bank account that accepts ACH transfers,
  • Employment or income verification in some states,
  • To live in one of the states where LendUp operates.

Other Facts about LendUp

  • LendUp offers unsecured loans.
  • The company reviews your bank transactions and looks at data from Clarity Services.
  • Type of credit check: LendUp won’t check your credit score.
  • LendUp is not so flexible because of its late fee.
  • LendUp provides flexibility. You can extend payment time on lump-sum loans without a late fee.
  • LendUp offers financial education to help you increase your credit report.
  • Reports some installment loan payments to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
  • LendUp helps you build credit by reports to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

Best for

  • People with really bad credit.

The Application Process

  • Register and check your rate. There are no application fees and no obligations.
  • Check your terms select the offer that works best for you, and finish your application.
  • Verify your info.
  • Receive your funds.

LendUp vs. Other  Loans for Really Bad Credit

Loan Company: Amount: Min. Credit Score: APR:
LendUp $100 – $500 0 30% – 1,000%
OppLoans $500 – $4,000 0 59% – 160%
BadCreditLoans $500 – $10,000 0 5.99% – 35.99%

Now Let’s Review LendUp in Details

Here at ElitePersonalFinance, we’ve reviewed plenty of online lenders that offer all kinds of products, from payday loans to installment loans and even large personal loans up to $35,000. Payday lending portals are the most common on the Internet, making up most of what we have reviewed and what you might find on an Internet ad.

LendUp is different. They’re not a lending portal: they’re a lender, licensed in states across the country. If they’re not in your state, don’t worry: they’ll be in your state soon. They pride themselves on being a socially responsible lender, promising not to leave you rolling down the “chute” into deeper and deeper debt.

Their main selling point is the “ladder,” which allows people to get better rates and “points” toward a higher service level. Not only this, but borrowers can eventually start to borrow loans that will appear on their credit history. This is much different from a typical payday lender, where the loans don’t appear anywhere on their credit report, and the payments don’t count toward their credit score.

We’re going to review LendUp and look critically at what they are offering: is it a scam? Is it worth it? We’re about to find out.

What is LendUp?

LendUp is a direct lender based out of the USA. Because they lend money directly over the Internet, they have the ability to set their own terms for how much the loans cost and what benefit the loans have to the borrower.

It is currently available in the following states: Alabama, California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

They offer two main types of loans: short-term loans and installment loans. Short-term loans are the types of loans you see very commonly on a payday loan website or at your payday dealer: small loans that cost a fair bit in interest and have additional finance charges associated with them. A short-term loan requires that you pay the entire loan, in full, on the due date. If you cannot do this, you will be charged exorbitant late fees, and the interest will accrue. Since the APRs on these loans can be as high as 2,000%, you do NOT want to be late.

An installment loan is closer to a car loan: you borrow a set amount of money and pay it, with interest, over time. Very few payday lenders offer these because they specialize in bad credit loans, and typically, people with bad credit will not qualify for these kinds of loans. There’s no collateral (that is, nothing for the lender to take away in case of default), and this causes the lenders to be warier of people with bad credit.

Their main selling point is their “Ladder,” a system that they use to help people get better rates on loans, learn more about personal finance, and get out of a cycle of debt. We cover it in a bit more detail later in the article.

The application process is quick and easy, you get a decision instantly, and you can trust that your loan is coming directly from LendUp. No middlemen mean you get to work directly with the bank, and no other institution is getting your information. That’s a big fear when using payday portals: some of the more unscrupulous ones want to sell your information to the highest bidder.

Their typical APRs range from about 200% to about 350%. However, you can get lower or higher rates depending on factors such as your credit score and your place on the “ladder.” They charge an additional administration fee of 5% of the amount financed up to $50. Both the interest charge and administration fee must be paid at the end of the term.

You can borrow up to $250 initially, but as you climb up the “ladder,” you will be able to borrow more.

With LendUp, you can trust that you’re getting a safe loan.

Is LendUp Scam or Legit?

This company has a high Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating and a high customer satisfaction rate. They expect everyone to pay their loans on time. Otherwise, they will have to pay a large amount of interest.

LendUp itself is NOT a scam.

Someone is using their company name to scam and defraud people. They are going around asking people to send them money in exchange for a loan. Some people have already fallen for it and have complained to the BBB. The BBB knows about this and has issued a warning.

The real company will NEVER ask you for money through MoneyGram, and they will NEVER ask you to pay anything BEFORE signing up for a loan. You make all secure payments through their HTTPS-secure website, and NOT through MoneyGram or Western Union. Be aware, and keep your eyes open!

What is The LendUp Ladder?

The LendUp Ladder is a system that rewards users that borrow from the company and pay their loans on time. The ladder allows people to get lower APRs (as low as 29%!), access to larger loan amounts, access to installment loans, and the ability to put their payments on their credit history. Upon your first loan, you get 125 points on the ladder.

There are three main ways to earn points on the ladder:

  • Borrow from LendUp and pay your loan, in full, on time. By doing this, you get up to 1000 points! You can only earn 1000 points per month by doing this, so just borrowing small amounts multiple times in a month is not going to cut it.
  • Complete their FREE Education courses. They offer courses which teach you about personal finance and help you achieve your goals.
  • Refer them to a friend. By referring a friend and having them borrow a loan, you will receive 500 points on the ladder!
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