Adding Fuel to the Fire: OppFi Hurts, Does Not Help, Borrowers’ Credit Health
Opportunity Financial, also known as OppFi, is a consumer lending company based in Chicago, Illinois that offers personal installment loans. Although OppFi’s stated mission is to “empower everyday consumers to rebuild their financial health,” OppFi is a legacy subprime lender. The company uses a rent-a-bank scheme to evade consumer protections and charge customers triple-digit interest rates on its personal installment loan product. In a rent-a-bank scheme, a lender partners with an out-of-state bank. The lender uses that bank’s charter to make loans at rates up to five times greater than the...