Spot On Loans was a large tribal lender that has recently (in August of 2013) changed their name to Greenline Loans. Since Greenline is a relatively new name in the tribal loan world there are many more reviews about the old Spot On Loans than Greenline.
One key change that is not for the better is the low dollar amount that Greenline is willing to offer in their loans, which is $300 for first time borrowers. I'm sorry but $300 is not worthy of the time or effort to even apply for the loan in my view. What's more unfortunate is that this is definitely a growing trend among the Native American payday lenders. It's not affecting the installment lenders (at least those that are tribally organized) as much, but now I have found one instance where an installment lender has made arrangements to repay a $300 loan over the course of 26 repayment dates, which is 52 total weeks.
In the case of Greeline (Spot On Loans) the problem is one of whether or not the time is even worth it. There are so many competitors which provide the same level of service, and the same easy application process where all you need is a job, to be at least 18 years old, to have a working checking account and to not be a current member of the U.S. Armed Forces. Most applicants can handle those four requirements so that's not the issue.
Let's compare the old Spot On Loans (or the new Greenline Loans) to one of my favorite tribal lenders, which is Plain Green Loans. Now Plain Green is an installment lender while Greenline is a payday lender, so we have that difference right away. But beyond that let's look at the terms and the options that you will have with each company...
Greenline Loans (assuming you are a first time customer, which for this situation I will) is going to offer you a $300 loan. That's it, that is the maximum. The APR on that $300 loan is going to be quite high, at least 500% or more. The loan will be due roughly around 12 to 19 days after you first borrow the funds. If you want to hold on to the money longer than the 19 day max then you'll have to essentially refinance the loan, which in this business is called getting the extension on the loan. So you would pay the $90 as a finance fee, continue with the full $300 outstanding as a current loan and have another 14 days in which time you'd have to get ready to repay the full amount and (once again) get ready to pay that same finance charge. Not a real good situation.
Things over at Plain Green Loans are not perfect but they are substantially better than the situation listed above. First off, if you take advantage of the six month loan that they offer you can qualify for an APR of 59% on your loan. In the tribal lending business that's not too bad. I should have mentioned also that Greenline Loans has a single, solitary loan. They have one product, literally. But Plain Green Loans has a number of different ways to structure your loan, so that's a plus on their side too.
Plain Green Loans will lend up to $3,000 and that's for their high end customers so in reality you will probably qualify for somewhere around $2,000 as a first time customer. Their average loan timeframe is six months, so that's a lot longer to repay the debt. It's also cheaper thanks to a lower interest rate and you get more money to borrow.
It's just hard to see any situation where the old Spot On Loans, now Greenline Loans, makes a better loan product than those offered by Plain Green Loans.
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