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3.1

Overall Score

LAST UPDATED: March 22nd, 2024

Spotloan was founded in 2012 and offers payday loans to people with no credit or bad credit. 

It is owned by BlueChip Financial, which is owned by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota. It is a direct lender, offering installment loans from $300–$800, for a maximum loan term of 10 months.

Online installment loans are available from this tribal lender in the following states:

  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Iowa
  • Idaho
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • Montana
  • North Carolina
  • Nebraska
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • Nevada
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Apply via desktop or mobile device. Spotloan does a soft credit check, not a hard credit check. It may show up on your credit report, but it won’t affect your score.

The lender’s FinTech artificial intelligence software helps predict borrower payback and detect fraudulent applications. Due to this, it specializes in offering unbanked and underbanked consumer loans that are relatively half the cost of other payday loan companies. No rollover, origination, or missed payment fees are charged.

Spotloan basic online payday loan eligibility:

  • At least 18
  • Valid email address and phone number
  • Checking or savings account
  • Regular source of income

Keep reading for pros and cons of borrowing from Spotloan.

Top Ranked Companies

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The Good

  • Fast Approval
  • Fast Funds
  • Max APR
  • Flexible Short-Term Cash Loans
  • No Prepayment Fees
  • Several Payment Options
  • Credit Reporting

Fast Approval

While the loan application can take about 10 minutes, as soon as consumers finish filling out the online application, they will know if they are approved.

If you aren’t approved, Spotloan will email you with information about what data points in your credit history caused the denial.

With payday and short-term installment loan companies, this type of quick transparency isn’t common.

Fast Funds

The online application is made to be simple and easy. If approved and confirmed early (8 a.m. Pacific or 11 a.m. Eastern), you can get your funds deposited the same day.

If you finish later than that time, it can take one to two business days (but normally you will have your funds within one business day). 

Max APR

While it may seem large when compared to mainstream personal loans, which generally have an annual percentage rate (APR) cap at 36 percent, the max APR of 490 percent on Spotloan's short-term installment loans is low compared to most traditional payday advance and payday loan companies, which can have rates that reach over 1,000 percent, and much shorter repayment terms. 

Flexible Short-Term Cash Loans

With Spotloan, customers aren’t getting a traditional payday loan that is due in full at the time of their next payday. This is an installment loan lasting from 3–10 months.

The site includes an easy calculator helping to determine what monthly payment you can afford, based on the loan amount you are looking to borrow. For example, if you want to borrow $300, your payment options are

  • 21 installments of $58, paid every two weeks
  • 6 installments of $88, paid every two weeks

What do the lending options look like for higher amounts?

If you borrow $500, your payment options are

  • 21 installments of $97, paid every two weeks
  • 6 installments of $146, paid every two weeks

If you borrow $800, your payment options are

  • 21 installments of $155, paid every two weeks
  • 6 installments of $233, paid every two weeks

Along with the flexible loan terms that you can tailor to your situation, if your account is in good standing and you contact a relationship manager two business days before your payment is coming due, you may be able to pause your monthly payments.

Pausing will likely result in added interest because your loan term is extended, but this is a hard-to-find service.

No Prepayment Fees

Regular payments go towards principal and interest. If you pay off your loan early, there are no penalty fees.

Several Payment Options

This lender accepts payments in three ways:

  • Automatic debit
  • Check (mailed)
  • Money Order (mailed)

Not many online lenders accept checks or money orders anymore. Most require that you do an automatic withdrawal.

Spotloan doesn’t require a checking account in its loan agreement. You can also apply for Spotloan loans with a savings bank account. This is not very common in the industry.

Credit Reporting

While Spotloan only does a soft credit pull during the application process for its short-term loans, your performance, as you repay the loan, is reported to the major credit bureaus.

This gives underbanked people the opportunity to improve their credit score as they make loan installment payments.

However, if you miss payments or make late payments, it can hurt your credit score.

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The Bad

  • Identity Verification
  • Small-Dollar Loans

Identity Verification

Spotloan states that some circumstances require verifying your identity if you are approved.

In those circumstances, you have to send a voided check from your financial institution before you can get a loan. Going to a local payday loan store will get your needed cash faster.

Small-Dollar Loans

With Spotloan, you can only borrow $300–$800 dollars. While it's true that lower amounts should be easier for borrowers to repay, this amount may not cover everyone’s emergency expenses or medical bill debt.

If consumers need payday advances for more than $800, Spotloan is neither a short-term or long-term financial solution. 

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The Bottom Line

Spotloan offers small-dollar installment loans in the majority of the United States. The Tribal lender has competitive rates and above-average repayment policies compared to other payday lenders, even offering to pause payments for a time.

Compared to other Tribal lenders like Big Picture Loans (APR 780–788), Spotloan offers better rates; however, when compared to our top payday lenders, like OppLoans and Fig Loans, its APR is double.

At this time, we want a little more feedback from consumers regarding their experiences with this direct lender to help back up its positive-leaning status.

Have you borrowed from Spotloan? How did it go? Was everything as expected, or did you find yourself unprepared for policies and fees? Good or bad, we want to know. The more data we can gather from Spotloan reviews, the better we can help you find the best company for your payday loan needs.

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Star Rating

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1.9

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17 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

18%

4 grade

0%

3 grade

6%

2 grade

6%

1 grade

71%

Sentiment Criteria

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Quality

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Michele Silver Spring, MD

Spotloans rates are high, but they are very transparent and honest about what your loan will cost you and they do advise you that you can pay the loan off early, without any penalty fees, thus making the loan less expensive. I paid off both my past loans from spotloan early with no issues. If you are unable to get a traditional loan, then spotloan may be for you. The application process is easy, you know if you are approved right away, you have a flexible choice of repayment plans to choose from and funds are deposited to your account the same day, next day or in two days depending on the day and time you apply, which is clearly explained as is your payment schedule. There are no hidden fees or surprises with spotloan!

2 years ago

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Ann Y. Thomasville, GA

This is my 3rd time getting a loan with Spotloan. Because I am a preferred customer they lowered my interest rate a bit. I appreciate that. I like knowing that I can pay-off early without any penalties. They are very straight forward and tell you in advance how much your payments will be and for how long you will be making payments. One time I had trouble making a payment and I called them and it was easy to defer that payment without having to go into a long explanation. My experience with this company has been very positive and I would recommend them if you are in the market for a short term loan.

3 years ago

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L.Wolfson Lake Worth, FL

Never have I taken out a Loan before and certainly had qualms about the process. Spotloan approved me right away and even though I missed the deadline to have the $ deposited the very same day, it arrived immediately after. So impressed. Made my 1st Payment today. Yes, expensive to pay back but SO WORTH IT!!! Thank you very much for the Emergency Loan - it kept a Roof over my head during this stressful holiday season. I'm alone AND Legally Blind and it still went smoothly. Never will I borrow from anyone else. Most Sincerely, Miss L. Wolfson.

2 years ago

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Sharon Williams

Yes I have used this company but only when it is definitely necessary and there is nothing else to do, because as everyone has stated the payback is a bit ridiculous, even though because of my good payment back history they will offer me to borrow more money but I never will do that because it is not fair to the customer. I only borrow $300 and it hurts to have to pay back more money that what I borrowed I think that is just exploiting customers and in the long run, I have friends and family that have asked me about this place but because of the high payback they said to me you must be joking, they said this place places the customer in worser shape and more debt than the actual bill that needs to be paid.

2 years ago

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Latesha Pate

God forbid you try to pay off your loan early. I been getting pushback and arguing when i requested to pay off my loan in full - i took the loan out 2 months prior. If they feel like they haven’t gotten enough interest payments out of you they give you the run around to pay off the loan.

6 months ago

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Tonia Harris Westland, MI

This was the worst decision ever! A loan of 800 will have you paying back 2,900 or more. My car broke down and I had to defer my payments. The interest is already too high to be legal! There should be a class action lawsuit! Any positive reviews are by the workers. No one believes that this is a good place to get a loan. It grabs you when you are desperately in need so that it can rob you once they have you. A settlement amount should be able to be agreed upon once you have paid SOOOOO much and have a hardship after you have paid the initial amount back.

9 months ago

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Geoff M. Greenwood, IN

Do not, I repeat, do NOT get a loan through Spotloan. I must not have been paying any attention or was way too desperate, because I have a $500 with a 490% APR. Yes, you read that correctly. My interest rate is higher than even those that were involved with their predatory interest rate lawsuit back in 2019-2020. I called to settle the debt with them today because I'm currently out of work and they were hateful. They told me I didn't have the option to settle because I haven't payed enough into it and that most people who get the option to settle pay at least 10-11 payments before they can do that. Sounds like an excuse to rack up interest then make the customer settle at the original price of the loan, right? I needed money badly too. Trust me. But if you're reading and actively paying attention to anything I've wrote so far, DO NOT ACCEPT OR EVEN APPLY TO THIS LOAN.

2 years ago

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Jetta Strickland

I applied with this company and they put the money in the wrong account. They approved me for 400$. They have received the money back. I applied again and have been denied. This really sucks!!

11 months ago

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J Lewis Roseville, CA

The company approved my loan and finalize it, sent me a confirmation email, then ever sent the funds and did not try to contact me to tell me why. When I logged on the my account on website it said that my funds were on the way. 4 day late I called to see why they haven't deposited the funds and thats when they asked my to send a check and copy of my id.. I canceled the loan

4 years ago

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Review Source

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Mel Gulfport, MS

Paying and they still sent the account too collections. Never received a call at all from the company until I received a collection company call stating I stopped paying.

7 months ago

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timmy Tulsa, OK

I've got to back out of this one I can see getting some interest since you've have easy way of giving loans out but I couldn't afford to pay back 1,270.00 on a 300.00 loan that's paying you'll back an extra 930.00 just to barrow 300.00 sorry it's not for me

1 year ago

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Chuck D Fort Worth, TX

Go elsewhere! I stupidly borrowed $300 from them in February after losing a part-time job and just finished paying them back over $1,000 in early October during a pandemic. Never again. Elizabeth Warren needs to.go after these predatory lenders.

3 years ago

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Chandreez Portland, OR

Unable to get pay off information. Payment made yet the next month the loan was higher then before the payment. Interest rate is very high and advertised to someone who could not pay off the loan

2 years ago

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Janet Durazo Medford, OR

I have a loan there and i want to see my contract. Twice a month they take out money from my bank account. I want to see my account cause they keep taken money from me. why won't they let me see my account?

2 years ago

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Michael Los Angeles, CA

DISCRIMINATION! Would not approve a $500 loan with a monthly DISABILITY income of $1307, with repayments of $311/month.

9 months ago

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Maude VORRICE Leavenworth, KS

Never will I use this company again! I had ONE late payment and it' s costing me 4 extra months and about $1000 extra in payments....Never again

2 years ago

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Ben Hayward, CA

Can not believe to get $500 you have to pay back $2000+ 490% interest what a joke doesn't this tribe own a casino and make enough money already!

3 years ago