OppLoans Personal Loans: 2023 Review

OppLoans are short-term installment loans offered by the lender Opportunity Financial, or OppFi. OppLoans borrowers don’t undergo a hard credit check, and while the company markets these loans as affordable alternatives to payday loans, it charges 160% APR on all loans.

NerdWallet doesn't recommend loans with annual percentage rates above 36%, unless you’ve exhausted all other borrowing options.

» COMPARE: Best bad credit loans

OppLoans rates, fees and terms

How to qualify for an OppLoans loan

OppFi says it does a soft credit check before lending, but not a hard credit check. A hard inquiry temporarily causes loan applicants’ credit scores to dip, but it provides the lender a more detailed look at their repayment history with other creditors. A lender that only does a soft inquiry may not have as rigorous an underwriting process as those that do hard inquiries, which may mean they can’t as accurately predict whether the applicant will repay the loan.

OppFi also reviews bank account transaction data to determine whether borrowers have enough income to repay the loan.

Here’s what you need to qualify for a loan.

• Minimum credit score: None disclosed.

• Minimum monthly gross income: $1,500 in most states.

• A bank account.

• A regular source of income. 

• Receive your paychecks through direct deposit.

OppLoans pros and cons

Pros

Fast funding. OppFi says it makes loan approval decisions immediately and can fund a loan the same day for applications sent by 12 p.m. Central time and next-day funding for all other applications.

Reports payments to the three major credit bureaus. OppFi reports payments to all three major credit bureaus. This means on-time payments may help build your credit, while missed payments could hurt it. Some high-interest lenders report payments to one or two credit bureaus, but few report to all three.

Repayment date is set according to the borrower's pay schedule. OppFi says it sets a loan’s repayment schedule according to when a borrower gets paid. Borrowers can request a more frequent payment schedule, but they must provide updated pay stubs to move to a less frequent cycle.

Choose your payment due date. Once approved for a loan, borrowers can choose from a handful of payment due dates and frequencies. Borrowers can also change the payment frequency by contacting the lender’s customer service representatives. The lender says how often borrowers can change their payment due dates is at the representatives’ discretion.

Cons

High interest rates. All installment loans from OppFi have annual percentage rates of 160%. Most consumer advocates say an affordable loan’s APR should be below 36%. Triple-digit interest rates are often a sign that a loan may be difficult to repay on time. High rates are common among lenders that offer no-credit-check loans because they take on more risk and make up for it by charging high rates.

Interest may make up more than 50% of the loan principal. OppLoans’ interest costs can make up more than half of what you borrowed. For example, if you borrow $2,000 at 160% APR with a nine-month repayment term, you’d repay a total of $1,551 in interest.

Does not offer pre-qualification. Unlike some of its competitors, OppFi doesn’t allow borrowers to check their potential loan offers through pre-qualification. This process lets you see your potential loan amount, rate and repayment term without having to submit a formal application.

No joint or co-signed loans. The lender doesn’t allow borrowers to add a co-applicant to improve their chances of getting a lower rate or larger loan amount. This offering is more common among lenders that charge rates below 36%.

OppLoans personal loan example

A $1,500 OppLoans installment loan with a repayment term of nine months at 160% APR would carry:

• Monthly payments: $296.

• Total interest: $1,163.

• Total amount due: $2,663.

» MORE: Installment loan calculator

Should you get an OppLoans personal loan?

Consider OppLoans a last resort in an emergency. It can be easy to fall behind on payments or spend more than you intended on high-interest loans. Because OppFi reports payments to the three major credit bureaus, on-time payments can help build your credit score, while missed payments can hurt it.

Depending on your goal, you may have better options. OppLoans is not a good idea if:

• You are trying to build credit: There are faster and cheaper ways to build credit, including a secured credit card or credit-builder loan. If you don’t know your score, you can get it for free on NerdWallet.

• You can get cash elsewhere: Cheaper alternatives are not always fast or convenient, and sometimes they require asking for help. But those alternatives could save you from overpaying in interest and getting caught in a cycle of debt.

How OppLoans compares

Here’s how OppLoans compares with similar loans.

Oportun loans have a 36% maximum APR. The lender considers credit history if a loan applicant has it, but it’s not a requirement. Oportun also says it processes most loan applications and funds loans the same day.

Personify Financial also charges high rates, but offers pre-qualification and does a hard credit check before approving a loan application. Funding is about as fast as OppFi.

» MORE: Best installment loans

Lawsuit against OppFi

OppFi settled a lawsuit with Washington, D.C.’s attorney general in November 2021 that alleged the company made loans that violated the state’s interest rate cap between February 2018 and May 2020. In a statement, the attorney general's office also accused OppFi of misrepresenting the loans as helping borrowers to build credit.

OppFi agreed to pay $1.5 million in refunds to district customers and $250,000 to the district. Washington, D.C., isn’t on the list of locations where OppFi makes loans.

OppFi sued California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) in March 2022 in an effort to prevent the regulator from enforcing the state’s 36% interest rate cap on OppLoans. A month later, the DFPI sued OppFi and alleged it violated that rate cap. The legal battle is ongoing, and OppFi still provides loans with 160% APRs in California.

OppFi says it adheres to federal laws because it uses banks in Utah, where there is no interest rate cap, to fund the loans.

» MORE: What is a ‘rent-a-bank’ loan?

Alternatives to OppLoans

If you take an OppLoans personal loan

• Exhaust all other options: If rent or bills are coming up, try to buy time from your creditor or work out a payment plan. Also, consider facing the short-term consequences of not paying, such as a late fee.

• Compare the cost of taking out the loan to the cost of not taking it out: Calculate the overall cost of not having funds for your purpose, then weigh that against the typical cost of an OppFi loan in your state.

If an OppFi installment loan is your best option, do what you can to carve out room in your budget to pay it off as quickly as possible. For most people, this loan is too expensive to become a long-term or repeat solution.

How to get an OppLoans personal loan

1. Go to OppLoans.com and select “Apply Now."

2. Enter your name and additional personal information, including your Social Security number. Then, enter information about the loan amount you want.

3. Submit the application.

4. You’ll receive an email letting you know if you’ve been approved. OppFi typically sends the funds to your bank account the same day or next day after approval.

How we rate OppLoans

NerdWallet writers rate lenders against a rubric that changes each year based on how personal loan products evolve. Here’s what we prioritized this year: