Spotloan has an interesting name and philosophy. They are not interested in getting the normal information that most loan companies are obsessed with, such as work history, credit score, how long you've lived at your current address, and the other personal information grabs that are so common with online lenders.
Instead, the company wants a very basic level of information, including your name and address, a contact phone number at your work and a cellphone number. After that, the rest is going to be done over the telephone, plan on allotting about 10 minutes to talk on the phone to a customer care specialist at Spotloan.
I recently took out a $700 installment loan with Spotloan just to see how everything went, and I was actually surprised. And by the way, this isn't one of those "these are great" lender write-ups, I truly did take out a loan on Tuesday, September 4th 2012. My point of contact is going to replace just calling-up blind to the customer care center, he is in charge of my loan. If I need to get an extension, make a payment that is more than scheduled, or if I have any problems I just call that same specialist. Spotloan gives each of these specialists (let's be honest and call them reps) their own email address and phone extension, so you can work directly with them.
One of the most interesting things about Spotloan is when you are providing your information during the application process and after you have been provided with your loan, at no point in this entire format do you receive an account number. This is stunning! How often do you work with a financial company that in the end, even after you have received money and have an obligation to re-pay, do you not receive an account number.
At first I thought this had to be a mistake and I asked my loan specialist how to log-in to the Spotloan website so I could see my information and access my account online. He said this isn't how Spotloan works. Rather than an account if you need information or to make a change, you simply email or call the customer care rep you were initially assigned, or you can talk to anyone in customer service. So, they definitely have some way of creating an internal account for their customers but there are no assigned accounts to the customers themselves. This is really strange and at first I was skeptical about the whole situation. But once the deal was done, the loan was transferred over to my checking account, and I received the loan information into my personal email address, I thought this is actually nice.
Our society is so built on working off of accounts, and logging onto the internet to see pre-populated information, it's just a very different situation to be in where the customer has to work directly with a contact person. Seems like the return of the 1980's before the internet and before pre-recorded information was kicked out by dialing 800 info numbers.
Now having said all of these nice things about Spotloan let's review the high cost of getting a $700 loan from this company. The interest rate for a six month turn time on an installment loan (for a new customer) was approximately 115% in total financing fees if the loan is held for the duration of the contract. This is in the same realm as other tribal lenders, however it seemed a little high when compared to Plain Green Loans, which would charge a little more interest than Spotloan, but the loan time frame was for one year.
So a customer going shopping for ease of procuring a loan will want to go to Spotloan. But a customer who is looking for a short-term loan from a tribal lender that wants a superior interest rate will most likely stick with Plain Green Loans, or even Great Plains Lending.
Spotloan wins the award for easy access to money, a very good turn time of less than 48 hours from the original phone call, and a friendly (non-digital) format with a personal contact to handle your account. The cost for the simplicity is a high interest rate. If Spotloan is smart they will keep their fantastic format for lending intact and incorporate the lower interest rates that some other competing tribal lenders have been able to provide.
** Here's an important update to the Spotloan story.
I have been in favor of using this lender for over two years, and since this piece was first written over one year ago the company has been growing steadily. It's not too uncommon to spot the Spotloan advertisements on your screen these days. And I don't mind.
I'm not currently in a situation where I need to get a tribal loan but for those who are they need to realize just what a better option Spotloan is when compared to so many other Native American loan companies.
There are a number of more popular tribal lenders, with companies like 500 Fast Cash and Ameriloan garnering a lot of attention. I simply do not understand why these lending outfits are getting a better reception than Spotloan, it does not make any sense.
Spotloan is a lending firm that will customize your loan timeframe, they tend to be highly negotiable when it comes to the first repayment date and the company is flexible if you need to change your repayment timeline altogether. I just had to update this page to try to convey my inability to understand why low quality tribal payday lenders like American Web Loan, United Cash Loans and others are still getting so much business when Spotloan is a perfectly good lender that beats the competition's offered loans any day of the week.
Can you tell I'm perplexed? It's true, I am. So if you are reading this and considering tribal lenders like Advantage Cash Services or Kashia Lending, or any other super short-term lending provider then it would be in your best interest (that's figuratively and literally, as you will be paying much less in interest charges) to travel over to Spotloan.com and see what they are offering.
I'm not getting any funding or endorsement to pitch Spotloan, I am simply tired of watching the tribal payday lenders continue to grow and flourish (and multiply) while the tribal installment lenders are perfectly available to these same borrowers. **
More Americans are borrowing from their retirement money and not only the ones who have borrowed an increasing number has defaulted on their loans. So more and more people are losing on their retirements funds.
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Posted by: Beste Lebensversicherung | 09/21/2013 at 12:56 PM
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Posted by: Jarrod | 09/28/2013 at 05:39 AM
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Posted by: money party | 10/13/2013 at 03:01 PM
I would love to try it out
Posted by: Darrell Minter | 10/14/2013 at 09:04 AM
I like Spotloan too, feel they are fair
Posted by: Kelley Hudak | 10/24/2013 at 10:29 PM
Purchasing life essential products belongs to the low-income category and require money from hour and hour. We don't have the luxury of being able to just buy whatever we want, when we want it. There aren't many ways to have a popular choice, low interest lender come to the rescue. Then along with borrowers facing an economic emergency and requesting approval with an unfavorable credit rating score, for most of us the answer is going to be a huge No.
Posted by: i need a personal loan quick but i have bad credit | 10/25/2013 at 11:09 AM
I like Spotloan too
Posted by: William | 10/25/2013 at 11:58 AM
A specialized loan provider could very well allow you to get the loan with the 7 steps loan. When it comes down to the wire and you need funding, you will have the funds on hand in time. That's why it's called A Handy Loan, because it will come in handy when you need it most.
Posted by: Max | 10/30/2013 at 09:38 PM
Spotloan is a good company. I am a 3 time customer and would say they are the best loan company I have ever worked with.
Posted by: Fiscally Dissed | 12/15/2013 at 10:05 AM
Thanks for the nice write-up I hope you stay keep on making lists of lenders that are still in business because many are going out of business or they if they are still open they can't use the banking system to electronically send money anymore so they are more or less worthless. Have you looked into other loan companies, like Springleaf or other loan companies? Also, I know some people that have gotten loans from hard money lenders, is that an option you could write about? My friend got a hard money loan not that long ago and it was WAY more money than these little personal loan companies are willing to lend out.
Posted by: Money Matters | 12/18/2013 at 03:12 AM
Spotloan was very helpful when I needed money. I know they are expensive but they jump when you ask for help.
Posted by: Money On Mind | 12/20/2013 at 07:21 AM
Today, I went to the beach front with my children. And I want you to know it would not have been possible without Spotloan. Am I going to pay extra for it yes I will. I know I know don't even start sending me the notes about the money I will lose. We have not been to the beach for two years and now we are here, I don't care how much extra interest I have to pay it's worth it to me alright.
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Posted by: Your Finances | 12/22/2013 at 01:49 AM
Spotloan is not a bad company I know I have worked with worse companies. At least they are friendly and reasonable.
Posted by: Spotloan OK | 12/28/2013 at 07:34 AM
Very soon this site will be famous amid all blogging and site-building users, due to it's good articles or reviews. By the way I want everyone to know just how questionable the loans issued by companies like Plain Green are issuing.
Posted by: plain green loans illegal | 01/02/2014 at 07:45 AM
Spotloan is good but so is one of the traditional lending stores, which was called American General Finance. They have changed their name to Springleaf Financial now but it's still basically the same company. They will give you a much larger loan than Spotloan is willing to and they give better terms too, like a much lower interest rate.
Posted by: American General Finance | 01/06/2014 at 11:04 PM
Greetings! Very useful advice in this particular article! It's the little changes that produce the most important changes. I like how you advocate for these tribal lenders to make changes and not just be complacent with the current structure. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Xander Schmidt | 01/09/2014 at 10:02 AM
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Posted by: Ernie Brown | 01/11/2014 at 05:08 PM
I like Spotloan a lot, I'm like you I have taken out a few loans through them and they always help me. If I need to make some changes to my loan they don't care and that's so great.
Posted by: Spotloan Fan | 01/12/2014 at 01:00 AM
If you want to finance a small business you're going to need a better cost loan. I will say that Spotloan is very friendly and they helped me out, I asked them to help finance my small business. Even though I repaid my loan on time they said they couldn't extend that much of a credit line and I guess I shouldn't be surprised but I was still disappointed in getting turned down. Still, Spotloan is a good company if you want to get a simple retail loan for your immediate needs.
Posted by: Home Based Business | 01/12/2014 at 09:14 PM
Great site! I love Spotloan and it's true I did get a Spotloan installment loan very quickly. I know most people are on here complaining and no one is too happy with online lenders but I was saved thanks to these guys. I'm not paid by the company and I just want to say thank you Spotloan for saving my January.
Posted by: Maureen Kramford | 01/12/2014 at 09:30 PM
The biggest problem with Spotloan is their low amount you can borrow I wanted a bigger loan, not too happy with $600. Feels more like payday lender.
Posted by: Ryan Doucet | 08/03/2016 at 03:12 PM
Spotloan helped me out so I'm thankful.
Posted by: Jason Z | 08/03/2016 at 03:12 PM
Hello thank you for writing this and exposing these companies. I actually think you are a little too light on them when it comes to criticism cause I have experienced them taking all my money. If you want to really understand these companies then try taking 2 of these loans at the same time. Then you will want them to all go out of business and be outlawed cause they are awful.
Posted by: Jill Tonnesen | 08/03/2016 at 03:13 PM