Member-only story
MoneyLion and the Membership You Just Can’t Cancel
One writer compares the neobank to Columbia House
I wrote recently about MoneyLion being sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)for offering loans with effective interest rates in excess of 36% in violation of the Military Lending Act.
Jason Mikula of Fintech Business Weekly compares the predatory lender to Columbia House — the company that would send you 8 CDs for one penny as long as you signed up for a “club membership” and kept getting some pretty expensive CDs you didn’t actually want.
Here’s more on the membership MoneyLion offered — and the lack of benefits provided to “members.”
An early version of of MoneyLion’s membership program, the “ML Plus Membership Program,” offered consumers the chance to take out a 12-month, $500 installment loan at a 5.99% APR — if they paid a $29 per month “membership fee.”
In addition to their monthly loan payment (approximately $43) and $29 membership fee, users were required to pay an additional $50 into an…
