Research

Payday loan apps, often marketed as a low-cost or even “free” way to access wages early, are anything but. This one-pager explains how common features, such as expedite fees, so-called “tips,” and repeated small-dollar transactions, drive up the true cost of borrowing, resulting in triple-digit annual percentage rates for many users. This resource shows how the business model depends on...

Read our new analysis of borrowers caught in an unaffordable cycle of refinancing, including instances of refinancing two to three months after taking out an OppFi loan.

A recent study (commissioned by EarnIn) analyzing data from EarnIn’s Cash Out product has been promoted as evidence that the payday lending app marketed as earned wage access (“EWA”) improves workers’ financial stability by increasing income. A closer reading of the study, however, reveals the opposite: the reported income increase is likely driven by workers supplying more labor, while the...

Minnesotans had been charged a 220% APR on the typical storefront payday loan, but this predatory form of credit ended in 2024 when a strong interest rate cap went into effect.

Nationally, HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) generate more than 130,000 jobs and almost $15 billion annually in total economic impact for their local and regional economies. But HBCUs have been underfunded throughout their histories. Couple that reality with the fact that student debt is a $1.7 trillion crisis in America, with one in four borrowers in default or serious...

Original research about Colorado borrowers shows expensive credit is already burying people in debt, debunking argument for legalizing even costlier credit.

Our new report shows that people who take out these loans experience steep costs as well as increasing financial stress due to increased use over time.

Improving consumer protection in this area has been one of the most pressing topics at statehouses across the country during the 2025 legislative session.

The newest poll from the bipartisan polling team Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consultingi provides fresh evidence that the overwhelming majority of Americans across the political spectrum support the mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to regulate the financial industry and protect consumers. The new findings are consistent with previous opinion research demonstrating widespread, intense public support...

In the 30 states that allow payday lending, single-payment and payday installment loans drained more than $2.4 billion in fees in a single year from low-income borrowers.