Golden Valley Lending is a pretty obscure tribal lending company that gets very little attention from anybody. This company is doing itself a disservice because they actually have a decent lending program. Golden Valley Lending is an installment loan company that structures a 20 repayment schedule.
Let's get into the nuts and bolts...
How much does it cost to borrow from Golden Valley Lending? Just like so many other tribal lenders this firm charges a $30 finance fee for each 14 days the loan is outstanding. That means whatever principal amount is still due at the end of those (rolling) 14 days the customer will owe a minimum of $30 for each $100 that is still outstanding. T
he company site does mention that a returning customer 'might' be eligible for a lower interest rate loan but they don't provide any figures as to what the term lower means. Does that mean a 20% or 25% interest rate? It's most likely decided on a case by case basis and the firm will not divulge any information about returning customers. Also, on another page, this lender also references a "VIP" program and discounts, but again there is nothing concrete being published about what can be provided and/or achieved by becoming a repeat customer with Golden Valley. This is already a small strike against the company in my view, and it wouldn't hurt them to head over to RadiantCash to see how a loyalty / returning customer program can be run correctly.
Like so many other tribal lenders Golden Valley Lending is dependent upon the standard ACH banking transaction that is free and simple to use for anyone who has an active checking account. The one problem the firm might want to be on the lookout here is the push many banks are making to exit this business when it comes to Native American lenders. Right now that's a disjointed effort on the part of some banks but it is a risk to the future of getting these loans funded and repaid. The good thing about operating an ACH funding model is that it is convenient and most people are familiar with the process, and appreciate the speed of these transactions.
Things start to sour when I came across a section on the company site that is titled "Customize your loan" and I thought this is really great. My first thoughts was that we have another Spotloan where the company bascially allows you to dictate the repayment dates, especially on the front end of the loan.
But as I read through this little snippet on the page it quickly became obvious that the whole message was meaningless. The customer your loan note begins by talking about how you can create a customer profile with all your information. Wow, now who in the world cares about doing that? Just what I always wanted, to create an exciting personal profile at a small time tribal lender.
Then they say you can "share your unique financial story" with the lender. I'm trying to understand this, first we fill out an exciting application and from there we continue providing more information about our unique financial story. For most people who are shopping for a Native American loan that unique story is more like a financial sob story, a true disaster. The only reason people turn to tribal loans is because they are financially crushed, down and out, usually with a bad credit score that prohibits them from getting a better loan with a lower interest rate.
The 'Customize your loan' piece only gets worse, as the next step is to let Golden Valley Lending "consider your important personal details" in order for them to create a loan offer for you. That sounds fun, please consider my importance and my personal information, and advise me on just how low I stand in your credit estimation.
Then the ending to the 'Customize your loan" section is so funny, as they exuberently declare 'guess what, this is only the beginning, you can always come back and update your profile' in order for them to again consider you for another loan or perhaps a different loan if the first one expired without you actually borrowing the money. What great news, I can come back to a tribal lender's website and add more information, the absolute thrill of the day and the age.
Golden Valley Lending definitely has a credibility problem, and they have what I like to call a humanistic problem. The credibility problem is that I can't believe that they believe this is appropriate to write this way and act excited over something so mundane and drab. The humanistic problem is the fact that someone actually sat down and wrote this, and the owners and/or managers of the company thought this was alright for them to post to the site for the world to read.
In other words, who could have possibly written this nonsense and where were the safeguards (managers) that would think how strange and unrealistic the firm would look with this silly message on their page? It's just not credible and it seems to be bordering on the crazy.
It's interesting that Golden Valley Lending decides that 20 repayment dates, which is a 40 week loan, and I don't see this as a big problem. It would be a good idea for them to open up this format so there is some more flexibility for borrowers. However, this isn't a huge requirement for me because I definitely appreciate having 40 weeks to repay the debt. I've encountered so many tribal lenders that are obsessed with the 14 day turn time for their loans that when I see a 40 week loan I just concede and say that's fine for me.
How much can be borrowed from this lender? Well, they don't ever come out and say the amounts. When you dig around on the site there is a drop box that shows the amounts of $300 ranging up to $1,000. That's no surprise and it's only mildly dissapointing. The $1,000 amount that is the top level loans and that's the way it is for probably 90% of all Native American lenders. Getting a $300 loan with 20 repayment dates seems a little strange, or maybe we can call it excessive.
In the end I don't feel that Golden Valley Lending is very good. I do like the fact that they are easy to get approved like all tribal lenders, and that they have 40 week long loans. The company also has a great level of website security with strong encryption, so that helps for those who are deciding they will apply with the firm. But for me I don't envision myself applying for two big reasons.
First, I don't like the fact that an installment lender will curtail their loans beyond the $1,000 level. If I have all this time to repay then I feel getting to the $2K or $3K level is more acceptable. Second, I don't like that standard 30% interest rate for the installment loan. The 30% rate seems a little more acceptable for the payday lenders like United Cash Loans and the other low grade short-term operators.
Those two problems are enough for me to stick with my established Native American lenders like Mobiloans, Plain Green Loans and Great Plains Lending. The rates and dollar amounts available at these older (and better) tribal lenders are just better than Golden Valley Lending. The terms are just not that good enough for me to consider giving this company my business.
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