Cash Union is not a new tribal lender but they have been flying under the radar for over a year, and they are slowly growing to the point where we need to consider them when reviewing the landscape of Native American lending options. And if we want to be very specific Cash Union is not a tribal lender at all.
They do offer a loan matching service which distinctly alerts (and for some people they would consider this a warning) that if the loan application is approved the funds 'could' come from a tribal lender. The funny thing is that the loan could be supplied from a tribal lender but the reality is with Native American tribes dominating the world of unsecured payday loans there is a high probability that the loan will come from a tribal lender.
Right from the start we don't have to worry too much about whether we like this loan matching company or not, as the total loan amount from this firm is only $500. This is the highest amount and this automatically makes Cash Union a much less interesting loan provider.
One different and nice part of this firm is the loan calculator that's built into the front of the website which can tell you exactly how much your (potential) loan will cost you, down to the exact amount per every calendar day. Now this is something that I wouldn't mind seeing on some tribal lender installment lenders front pages.
Another quality component to this advanced calculator is the fact that it will calculate the interest rate for whatever dollar amount you select combined with the state that you live in. The company actually spent the time to cross calculate all of the states legally available interest rate tied into the dollar amount intervals that are offered by Cash Union.
Other than this specialized calculator there isn't much else that I like about Cash Union. The name of the firm is a little interesting but the fact that they had to settle for the ".net" website name makes them look a little less professional. The site has decent website security but this isn't much of a factor for deciding whether or not to use the company.
There are two big strikes that make this 'lending' company not worth my time...
First, the $500 maximum amount of debt available doesn't help a lot of potential consumers. I have talked with more than a few tribal loan customers and while the amount of available dollars isn't the last straw for some customers it is a major factor in the decision to use or not use a potential lender. For me personally the limitation of only getting $500 is a big problem. Companies like Mobiloans offers up to $1,500 in a loan and Plain Green Loans offers up to $3K, so that leaves Cash Union looking a little slight for their loan maximum.
Second, the fact that a customer will not actually be dealing with (getting a loan from) Cash Union and instead will get a loan from some unknown lender in the network of loan firms that Cash Union has put together is not very appealing. While it does not really pose a threat or true difficulty the thought of using a third party loan matching firm just isn't necessary. If this was our only option for a loan then it would be more acceptable, but we know there are hundreds of other online lenders that we can work with directly and so the question is why work with a loan matching company? There is not a good answer that I can think of.
If you do decide to use Cash Union for your loan make sure to take notice of the loan calculator so you can determine how much interest you will pay daily. This is the one great thing about this site (company) because I don't know of any other online lender (tribal or non-tribal) that offers this daily calculation of the interest a customer will be paying. This is absolutely unique to Cash Union and it is too bad some other tribal lenders don't create this tool for their sites.
Beyond the cool calculator a customer will be paying whatever the maximum interest rate for the state they borrow in, or at least it will be near the maximum. The qualified amount will most likely be somewhere from $300 to $500. The due date will be roughly 14 days from when the loan is first issued although the loan calculator did go up to 30 days but I believe that might be misleading; it's my experience that when a (payday loan) calculator is offered it might show up to 31 or 33 days for a borrowing time frame but that is rarely offered when it comes time to sign the loan documents. The loan time frame will more likely be somewhere between 13 to 20 calendar days. In case you are wondering this allotted time includes the weekend days.
If you are unable to qualify (due to credit status, outstanding loans or state regulations) for a loan from Plain Green Loans, Great Plains Lending or Mobiloans then it would alright to consider using Cash Union. If any of the previously mentioned lenders are available I would use them before going with Cash Union.
Recent Comments