Consumer lending and borrowing is a tale of worry and wonderment since COVID-19 appeared to trigger a capricious series of economic disasters. Corporations are still meeting fair resistance to borrowing money. Consumers have it harder, and need credit options now.
The jury’s still out on the 2021 loan default picture — CFOs and loan officers worldwide are studying the movements of state-owned banks in China, as they now push cheap consumer credit to kickstart a slow recovery there — and more will be revealed before ringing in 2022.
Meantime, PYMNTS’ Provider Ranking of Personal Loan Apps is here to prove that digital consumer credit has momentum of its own. You just have to watch true movers and shakers.
This being the shortest ranking of all — just seven apps — we’ll try to make short work of it.
The Top Five
“Roar” says No. 1-ranked MoneyLion, which loves it at that particular perch.
Always within striking distance of the aforementioned leonine app is this one — SoFi — at No. 2 yet again, after recently offering amateur investors early access to its anticipated IPO this year.
Appearing to be putting down roots at No. 3 is the LendingTree app.
Online loan marketplace and app Avant sticks at No. 4 for another month, placing it in the (ahem) “avant-garde” of personal loan apps again.
Closing out the top five for this Provider Ranking of Personal Loan Apps is a No. 5 favorite, India’s powerful PaySense. There’s no shortage of interesting news from India’s Fintechs in 2021.
The Top 10
At this point, we’re known to say something like “it’s a breeze from here,” as the Provider Ranking of Personal Loan Apps has just seven contenders. But beneath that calm, collected composure is the furious competition of some of the world’s best-loved digital lenders.
To that very point — and firm at No. 6 for another month — is the Upgrade app, pushed along by things like the popular debit rewards program it put in place earlier this year.
Closing us out at No. 7 is the FlexWage app, solid as a rock, even as more players jump into the market space where early wage access meets personal loans.
For the shortest of the 18 or so PYMNTS Provider Rankings, this took longer than we thought.
Think of it as a tiny “time loan” that pays off long after you move on.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
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