LoanMe Reviews

About LoanMe

By HighYa Research Team

If you’re a resident of Arizona, California, Missouri, New Mexico, or Utah, LoanMe is an online lender that claims to provide fast and easy personal, business, and auto loans to customers who might not otherwise qualify for financing. LoanMe customers have the ability to take out loans of up to $100K, which can be repaid in monthly installments over the course of 1, 5, and even 10 years in some instances.

With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at LoanMe’s specializations:

Personal Loans

According to the LoanMe website, you can apply for one of their auto loans online or over the phone, and can have the cash transferred to your bank account in as little as one business day. Once your loan is in place, the company claims to provide easy monthly payments without a prepayment penalty.

Similar to LendUp, LoanMe claims to report your on-time payments to each of the 3 credit bureaus, possibly improving your credit score.

Small Business Loans

Whether due to unexpected bills or the fact that your business can’t be served by a traditional lender, LoanMe’s small business loans are claimed to provide a quick, unsecured infusion of cash at a fixed interest rate with low monthly payments.

Auto Loans

According to a press release on the company’s website, LoanMe also “provides loans for the individuals who would not otherwise be able to purchase an automobile,” and specifically, for those who have a FICO score of 475 and above and are looking to borrow $30,000 or less.

However, the auto loans division of LoanMe appears to be pending, as there are no specific details provided about how LoanMe can help consumers obtain auto loans, other than claiming to work directly with dealerships to provide a simple and efficient loans. In addition, we’re not advised what benefits LoanMe provides compared to the competition.

Why Would You Consider a LoanMe Loan?

It can be stressful to need money quickly, regardless whether it’s for rent or mortgage payments, to put food on the table and feed your family, to cover unexpected hospital bills or car repairs, or anything else. And at first glance, lenders such as LoanMe might seem like a good option to get you and your family out of a tight situation. But is this actually the case? Consider the following:

Watch Your Bottom Line

As with any other personal lender, LoanMe charges very high interest rates for their loans, and in general you should try to pay them off in as little time as possible. Otherwise, you could end up paying much more than your original loan amount.

Considerations for LoanMe Auto Loans

For example, taking a look at LoanMe’s Personal Rates pages for the state of CA, if you take out a $3,100 (plus a $75 fee) loan with an interest rate of 135%, your monthly payments will amount to $351.09 over the course of 47 months. You definitely don’t need a calculator to figure out that your repayment total will be much, much higher than your original loan. But to put it in concrete terms, if you followed this payment schedule, you’d end up paying more than $16,500 for your $3,100 loan!

Considerations for LoanMe’s Business Loans

And if you think LoanMe’s rates for business loans are any lower, you might be surprised. An example scenario on LoanMe’s Rates pages indicates that a $15,000 loan will come with a $1,500 origination fee, and will be assessed an interest rate of 39%. Over the course of 120 months, this borrower would pay minimum monthly payments of $498.23, bringing their grand total to almost $60K!

There Are Guidelines to be Met

Although LoanMe has broader lending guidelines than a traditional lender (and the interest rates to go along with it), such as a bank or credit union, there are still some minimum requirements you’ll need to meet.

First, regardless of the loan type you’re looking for, you’ll need to provide a bank statement, proof of income, and must be at least 21 years of age with a valid ID, such as a driver’s license.

Also, in addition to a minimum credit score, auto loan applicants are required to “have a minimum gross monthly income of $1,800 from all sources to qualify. Joint applicants must have a gross monthly combined income of $2,800, and one applicant must have $2,000 from a single source. Applicant(s) must provide current paystub with year-to-date earnings dated no more than 30 days prior to funding.”

From a business loans standpoint, you’ll need to be a for-profit enterprise that’s been in business for at least 2 months, you’ll need to have a bank account in your business’ name, and you’ll need to prove your income. Finally, you’ll need to have a personal credit score of at least 500.

LoanMe’s Online Customer Reputation

Overall, LoanMe, Inc based out of Anaheim, CA, appears to have garnered a fairly low online customer reputation since opening their doors in 2013. As with most payday lenders, the primary complaints revolve around extraordinarily high interest rates.

However, we did find one customer review claiming that LoanMe and CashCall are the same company. Possibly in support of this assertion, we found a LoanMe Franchise Dealer Questionnaire hosted on the CashCall website.

Despite their seemingly negative online reputation with customers though, LoanMe has an A- BBB rating with only 1 complaint filed, which claimed that rates and fees changed between what was quoted by the company and what was reflected on the loan paperwork when it came time for approval.

LoanMe Pricing

As we mentioned above, your LoanMe personal, auto, or business loan’s APR, fees, and repayment terms will vary based on a wide number of factors, including loan amount, credit history, the state in which you live, and more.

With this said though, personal loan interest rates can vary between 34% and 204%, and fees between $75 and $950. Business loan interest rates can vary between 24% and 149%, and fees between 3% and 10% of your loan amount.

Important note: Keep in mind that, regardless of the type of loan you need, any fees are taken out after the loan has been funded. In other words, if you take out a $10K loan with a $750 fee, you’ll pay interest on the full $10K, but will have actually only received a $9,250 loan. In a very real way, this means that LoanMe is taking money from you, and charging you to do it.

If you need to talk with LoanMe customer service to ask about LoanMe’s fees and interest rates, they can be reached at 844-474-2886.

Should You Use LoanMe to Find Your Next Loan?

Chopping to the Point: While it’s definitely positive that LoanMe attaches fixed interest rates and repayment schedules to their loans, their extraordinarily high interest rates mean that you should only use them as a last resort, and only if you can pay off your loan quickly.

Otherwise, you might find that your once-small loan has ballooned into a much great amount—one that you may never have the ability to fully pay off.