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MoneyLion Personal Loan Review

MoneyLion offers a unique lending product intended to help consumers build credit from scratch. Its Credit Builder Plus+ Loan requires a monthly membership fee of $19.99, but it lets consumers stow away money that earns interest until the loan is paid off.

MoneyLion’s Credit Builder Plus+ Loan is best for consumers who have poor credit or no credit and can’t get approved for a traditional loan. Read on to learn more.

MoneyLion personal loan highlights

  • Pay a monthly application fee and low APR: MoneyLion’s Credit Builder Plus+ Loan requires a $19.99 monthly membership fee, but the APR on your credit builder loan is only 5.99%.
  • Can help you build credit: One major perk of this loan product is that your payments are reported to all three major credit bureaus.
  • Access free credit monitoring: MoneyLion’s Credit Builder Plus+ Loan comes with free credit monitoring and reporting that comes out on a weekly basis.
  • Get zero-interest cash advances: This loan product lets you access cash advances without interest in some cases. With direct deposit set up, you can get a cash advance of up to $250 per pay period. ($50 per pay period maximum without direct deposit.)
  • Access some of your cash upfront: You may also qualify for between $75 and $500 in cash upfront when you sign up, although how much you receive depends on your creditworthiness and other factors.
  • Earn rewards with the Lion’s Share Loyalty program: You can earn rewards that can help cancel out your monthly membership fee if you sign up for a MoneyLion Visa Debit Card and use it regularly. If you log into the MoneyLion app every day and make at least 20 transactions of $10 or more with a MoneyLion Visa Debit Card on a monthly basis, you can recoup your monthly fee each month.

MoneyLion at a glance

  • APR: 5.99%
  • Minimum credit score: Not specified
  • Terms: 12 months
  • Origination fee: No origination fees

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Terms Fees and penalties
  • Terms: 12 months
  • APR: 5.99%
  • Loan amounts: Up to $5,000
  • Time to funding: Not specified
  • Credit check: No credit check
  • Origination fee: No origination fees
  • Prepayment fee: None
  • Late payment fee: $25 to $37.50
  • Membership fee: $19.99 monthly membership required to qualify

Eligibility requirements

  • Minimum credit score: Not specified.
  • Minimum credit history: Not specified.
  • Maximum debt-to-income ratio: Not specified.

In addition to signing up for MoneyLion membership, which costs $19.99 per month, the main eligibility requirements for a MoneyLion Credit Builder Plus+ Loan includes linking a checking account that:

  • Is in good standing
  • Has a detectable income stream
  • Has an acceptable ratio of deposits and debits

Your linked checking account also needs to have been open for at least 60 days to get started.

What borrowers are saying about MoneyLion

MoneyLion received 4.6 out of 5 stars over 15 reviews on the LendingTree platform. Borrower reviews commonly cited solid customer service and the fact that MoneyLion accepts bad credit borrowers.

Kyle from Prescott Valley, Ariz., noted in his January 2019 review that “they offer great perks for signing up with them and as you continue to be a customer.” He also said “I personally don’t have the best credit and was being denied left and right, but MoneyLion accepted me and gave me a shot and some stress relief at the same time!”

One reviewer who left a one-star rating noted that they were having difficulty canceling their membership.

Applying for a personal loan from MoneyLion

Applying for a personal loan from MoneyLion only requires a few simple steps. You’ll start by hitting the “join” button on the home page. From there, you’ll enter information such as your full name, your email address, your birthdate, your home address, your Social Security number, and your phone number.

Once you’re done registering for an account, you’ll move onto the next steps of linking your account with a third party checking account that is in good standing. Once the system has a chance to review your details, accounts can be approved almost instantly.

Pros Cons
  • Easy to qualify for: With no credit check required, MoneyLion loans can work for someone with bad credit who cannot get approved elsewhere.
  • Can be used to build credit: MoneyLion allows you to build your credit history and score with its service. That makes this loan ideal for someone who needs help building credit from scratch.
  • Get your money back once your loan is paid off: Once your loan is paid off, you’ll get the money you paid into the loan back.
  • Hefty monthly fee required: You’ll pay $19.99 per month for a membership unless you’re able to log into the MoneyLion app every day and make at least 20 purchases of $10 or more per month with a MoneyLion Visa debit card.
  • You may only qualify to borrow $75 upfront: Depending your creditworthiness, you may be restricted to only borrowing up to $75.
  • Your monthly payments could be “trapped” for a year: The payments you make toward your loan may be kept in a Credit Reserve Account until the full loan amount is paid off. This means you cannot access the money you paid in until your loan is paid in full.

Who is the best for the MoneyLion Credit Builder Plus+ Loan?

The MoneyLion Credit Builder Plus Loan is best for consumers who cannot get approved for a loan or credit card due to poor or nonexistent credit. Since MoneyLion reports all your credit payments to the three major credit bureaus, its loan products can help you build credit history and your credit score over time.

This personal loan product also comes with a low APR. However, its monthly membership charge can be high, depending on how much you’re borrowing. If you can sign up for MoneyLion’s debit card and make enough charges to avoid the membership fee, then MoneyLion’s loan is a competitive product when you’re trying to build a healthy payment history on your credit.

Alternative loan options

Personify Financial

  • APR: 35.00% to 179.99%
  • Minimum credit score: Not specified
  • Terms: 6 to 48 months
  • Origination fee: 0.00% - 5.00%

Subprime borrowers may qualify for an installment loan through Personify Financial. Although you can avoid paying a monthly membership for your loan (as is the case with MoneyLion), Personify Financial has significantly higher rates. Depending on how much you borrow and for how long, that may make this bad credit lender a more expensive option.

OneMain Financial

  • APR: 18.00% to 35.99%
  • Minimum credit score: Not specified
  • Terms: 24 to 60 months
  • Origination fee: 1.00% - 10.00%

OneMain Financial offers loan products aimed at consumers with imperfect credit. You can borrow $1,500 and $20,000 depending on your income, creditworthiness, and other factors, although some individual states do have minimum or maximum loan amounts. That makes this lender a viable option if you don’t have perfect credit but need to borrow more money than is offered by MoneyLion.

While OneMain Financial loan products can be helpful, they aren’t “credit building” per se, nor are they secured. Instead, OneMain Financial will loan you the full loan amount you qualify for.

LendingPoint

  • APR: 9.99% to 35.99%
  • Minimum credit score: 585
  • Terms: 24 to 48 months
  • Origination fee: 0.00% - 6.00%

LendingPoint offers loans in amounts up to $25,000 for consumers with credit scores as low as 585. These loans are unsecured, and you can borrow with terms from 24 to 48 months. Since LendingPoint loans are available to consumers with imperfect credit, however, interest rates tend to be higher than you’ll find with MoneyLion.

However, LendingPoint loans aren’t “credit builder” or secured loans, so you’ll get the full amount of the loan you apply for. That makes them different than MoneyLion loan products, which only grant you part of your loan amount upfront.

 

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