MoneyMutual Review

Sometimes you just need cash fast – forget ideal interest rates or terms.

What happens when the car breaks down before the end of the month, but you still need to pay for groceries? In these cases, the best options are often payday loans or something similar. In other cases, such as when a few missed payments have tanked one’s credit score, people need decent (oxymoronically) bad credit loans.

These situations are far from uncommon. In fact, with unemployment averaging 15% in the US over the summer of 2020, more and more people need to take out short-term loans, only to find it painstaking to apply to dozens of lenders over and over.

What if there was a way, they might wonder, to apply to all the short-term loan providers in their area? Turns out, MoneyMutual provides just that service.

Sound interesting? Let’s dive in.

MoneyMutual connects borrowers with short-term loan providers through a simplistic website and a fast approval process. Its chief value is that it allows borrowers to access multiple lenders at once, saving time and possibly money when they need a short-term loan fast.

Fast Facts

• Fees: $0
• Income Minimum: $800
• Best For: Short-term loans
• Highlight: Simplifies the approval process for short-term loans

Rating

• Loan Diversity: 5/10
• Ease of Use: 8/10
• Security: 8/10
• Education: 7/10
• Fees: 10/10
• Overall: 7/10

Visit MoneyMutual on MoneyMutual’s website

What is MoneyMutual?

MoneyMutual is a networking site that connects short-term lenders with borrowers in need of a loan. Through a network comprised of over 60 unique lenders, MoneyMutual can direct you to local loan providers for payday, installment, bad credit, and other loans. 

Users can access the site, fill out the necessary forms, and then access all lenders within MoneyMutual’s network. This is much more efficient than visiting every lending site individually and filling out a separate loan 60 times.

In this way, MoneyMutual allows borrowers to cast a wider net and potentially receive loan offers much more quickly. They work exclusively with short-term lenders, so the site is a good way to get a payday loan fast if you need to pay off a bill that might otherwise cost you a bundle in late fees.

A Brief History of MoneyMutual

MoneyMutual was first founded in 2010 out of the realization that many Americans (about 4 in 10 according to the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households report) aren’t able to come up with even $400 for an emergency. While short-term bad credit or payday loan providers do exist, many people in dire financial straits don’t have the time to attempt to access dozens of places over and over, individually.

Simply put, MoneyMutual is designed to help connect borrowers to short-term lenders. The core ambition of the site is to make the approval process for short-term loans faster and easier, and to offer a more secure process for those who need a cash infusion fast.

MoneyMutual Summary

How Does MoneyMutual Work?

As opposed to a lending company, MoneyMutual is essentially a loan middleman. That is, MoneyMutual connects loan seekers with short-term lending companies in their area.

As such, it’s an ideal way to find a short-term loan from a local provider if you don’t want to call up dozens of potential lenders individually. You can use the MoneyMutual lender network to save yourself a lot of time.

Users can access the loan approval process through the main MoneyMutual website, where MoneyMutual does the work of looking through a network of over 60 short-term lending companies. Once they connect a borrower to a lender, they’ll redirect you to the lender website and set you up with a potential loan agreement.

Users can review the terms and conditions, then decide if they want to accept the loan or keep looking. This simplistic business model does mean that MoneyMutual isn’t actually involved with any of the details of a given loan – they don’t determine the amount, interest rate, loan term, or anything else. 

As such, users need to look over loan terms and conditions carefully before signing on the proverbial dotted line.

MoneyMutual Compared

General

Estimated APR

Varies

5.99 - 24.99%

Minimum credit score

N/A

640

Loan term

Varies

2 - 5 years

Loan amount

up to $5,000

$5,000 - $35,000

Best for

Short-term loans

Borrowers with good credit

Visit MoneyMutual on MoneyMutual's website

Visit Payoff on Payoff's website

General

Estimated APR

5.99 - 24.99%

• Term Loans: 7 - 30%
• Startup Loans: 7.9 - 19.9%

Minimum credit score

640

550

Loan term

2 - 5 years

1 - 5 years

Loan amount

$5,000 - $35,000

$5,000 - $500,000

Best for

Borrowers with good credit

Small business loans

Visit Payoff on Payoff's website

Visit Fundera on Fundera's website

General

Estimated APR

Varies

5.99 - 24.99%

• Term Loans: 7 - 30%
• Startup Loans: 7.9 - 19.9%

Minimum credit score

N/A

640

550

Loan term

Varies

2 - 5 years

1 - 5 years

Loan amount

up to $5,000

$5,000 - $35,000

$5,000 - $500,000

Best for

Short-term loans

Borrowers with good credit

Small business loans

Visit MoneyMutual on MoneyMutual's website

Visit Payoff on Payoff's website

Visit Fundera on Fundera's website

Services Offered by MoneyMutual

MoneyMutual can connect you with a variety of short-term loan providers that might offer several different loan types. Most of these loans are not ideal in terms of interest rates or terms, however – those looking for the leading loans with fair credit or otherwise will want another connector service.

Payday Loans

These are the most common short-term loans around. As their name suggests, these are used to provide borrowers with a short-term cash infusion so they can make it to the next payday. They’re ideal if you want to pay off a bill or get groceries before payday comes around – in the former case, this may be cheaper, even with the interest rate, then if you let a bill accrue a late fee or another loan rack up interest.

Payday loans through MoneyMutual’s lender network and other providers normally need to be paid off on your next “payday”, so you’ll need to provide that date when you seek access to MoneyMutual’s network. Furthermore, you’ll need to authorize the lending company you borrow from to withdraw a payment from your bank account on your payday.

Remember, however, that payday loans have extremely high-interest rates and very high finance charges. This is an expensive way to borrow, so always be sure you can pay them off on your next payday to avoid being trapped in a cycle of debt.

Installment Loans

You can find several types of installment loans through MoneyMutual’s network of lenders. Installment loans are those agreed to be paid back over a set number of payments. These are scheduled and are often ideal if you have good payment discipline and want to avoid higher fees and interest rates common with payday loans.

However, be careful when agreeing to an installment loan – some of the loan’s terminology may essentially guarantee that you have to make some interest payments based on the loan repayment dates.

Loans for Bad Credit

Many of the above loans qualify as “bad credit loans” – loans with lower eligibility requirements but potentially higher interest rates which are, therefore, more suitable for those with bad credit. You can get bad credit loans through MoneyMutual since many in their lending network will look at other factors aside from your credit score to determine loan worthiness.

They might examine, for example, proof of your monthly income or other financial factors instead. In such cases, you can secure a loan in order to repair your car, buy some emergency clothes or boots, or pay another bill that would otherwise charge you a fee you can’t afford.

MoneyMutual is actually #2 on our review of the top platforms to get a bad credit loan. If these loans are specifically what you’re after, check out the other alternatives for more specific recommendations.

Cash Advances

The term “cash advance” is oftentimes used interchangeably with payday loans. The biggest difference is that a cash advance often allows you to pull out a certain short-term amount of cash regardless of your existing line of credit for bill-paying or similar purposes.

For instance, you can often take out a cash advance with a credit or debit card even if you’re at your credit limit. MoneyMutual can connect you with lenders that offer cash advances. These, like payday loans, often have very high interest rates, plus high fees for using the service in the first place.

Thus, they’re really only a great choice if you need to make a payment in cash exclusively and can’t rely on electronic payment methods.

What’s the Difference Between Payday and Installment Loans?

A payday loan often has an extremely short term since paydays normally come at the beginning or end of every month for everyone. Thus, these loans usually have terms between two and four weeks. They’re also normally on the order of a few hundred dollars instead of a few thousand.

In contrast, installment loans can have terms for up to a year or more and you may be able to borrow over $1000 quite frequently depending on your credit and the loan’s specifics. MoneyMutual’s installment loans usually don’t go over $1000, however.

Which Lenders Do MoneyMutual Use?

MoneyMutual is a member of the Online Lenders Alliance, an organization that includes many lending companies that follow strict laws to prevent abuse, protect their borrowers from various types of fraud, and otherwise guarantee a level of legitimacy you might not get from a corner-store lending agency.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that any of the loans offered to you will be particularly user-friendly – as described, most of the loans above have high interest rates and high fees. But you won’t likely get outright ripped off since MoneyMutual vets each of the lenders in its network for scams or problematic agreements.

How to Know if You’re Eligible for MoneyMutual Loans

While MoneyMutual can’t dictate the requirements for each of its lenders, it does have a series of general requirements to meet. If you check all these off, you have a good chance of getting at least a few loan offerings from some of the companies in its network.

MoneyMutual’s Eligibility Criteria

The basic eligibility requirements are fairly standard and include:

• Be 18 years of age
• Be a US resident
• Have a regular source of income (you’ll need to prove this)
• Have a valid checking account

The last requirement is so that the lenders within the network can deposit your money quickly and, in the case of payday loans or cash advances, so the same lender can withdraw their payment on your payday. 

MoneyMutual Income Requirements

In addition to the above requirements, MoneyMutual requires that those who seek access earn at least $800 every month. MoneyMutual requires you to specify where you get this money, and the source will determine your eligibility for certain loans.

You can get this $800 from Social Security, disability benefits, a pension, or a regular job.

Even after all of these things are fulfilled, there’s no guarantee you’ll be contacted by one of the lenders within MoneyMutual’s network. It’s still up to the individual agencies to determine your loan worthiness. For instance, while MoneyMutual won’t contact your employer, a potential lender can and often will.

MoneyMutual Loan Approval Process

The loan approval process for MoneyMutual is pretty straightforward.

• Enter your ZIP code on the MoneyMutual main website
• Enter your name, email, and a few other pieces of identifying information
• You can optionally enter your phone number for updates by text
• Next, you’ll explain your main source of income, your address, and other living situation information
• You must provide your monthly income and proof of that income
• Then select your bank account and how often you are paid, plus the next two pay dates (for payday loans)
• Enter your employer’s name and other identifying information if applicable
• Enter either a state ID number or driver’s license number and state information
• Lastly, you’ll enter your full bank routing number and account number, then submit your information

All told, the loan approval process through the MoneyMutual lender network should only take a few minutes if you have your information collected already.

How Long Does it Take to Receive Funds Through MoneyMutual’s Lender Network?

In some cases, you’ll be lucky enough to be connected to a lender within minutes. MoneyMutual immediately begins the loan approval process by seeking a connection for you throughout its lender network.

However, your specific loan approval process will involve a review by both lender algorithms and, in some cases, human eyes before you might receive an offer. Because of this, you might also have to wait for up to several days. Most MoneyMutual users don’t seem to have an issue with this, however.

After a loan is offered, you can choose to accept the loan and its conditions. Remember to read all the terms and conditions thoroughly to avoid being surprised by interest rates or other fees.

Once you accept a loan, most lenders will attempt to fund your account within 24 hours or a single business day. You’ll have a higher chance of getting funding during the week as opposed to the weekend with some lenders.

How Much Can You Borrow Through MoneyMutual’s Lender Network?

The exact amount, of course, is dependent on a given loan. Since MoneyMutual can connect you with over 60 lenders, there’s some variation even though this service is primarily used for payday or bad credit loans.

Furthermore, some states have laws capping the maximum amount you can get from a payday or similar short-term loan. For instance, you might not be allowed to get more than $1000 for a given payday loan depending on your state’s regulations.

MoneyMutual themselves advertise loans of up to $2500. This is a good upper limit to expect, and smaller loans of around $300 or $500 are incredibly common.

MoneyMutual Fees and Costs

As a user-lender connection service, you’d expect MoneyMutual to charge some kind of fee for the trouble. But instead, MoneyMutual is a totally free service for its borrowers.

Instead, MoneyMutual makes its money by charging small fees to the lending companies that it connects with worthwhile borrowers.

However, aside from interest rates, you should also be aware that many payday loan companies charge small fees based on how much you borrow. A good rule of thumb is to expect an average of $15 to be added on top of every $100 you borrow for a standard payday loan.

For instance, borrowing $300 for a payday loan would actually result in a $345 charge on your payday, on top of the interest rate (if applicable).

Aside from the above example, lenders are free to charge whatever fees they desire, including prepayment, late, or “administration” fees. This is legally required to be spelled out in any loan a company may offer, so read through everything carefully to ensure you get the best deal possible.

MoneyMutual Lender Network Interest Rates

The interest rates you might be saddled with our heavily dependent on the individual lender. Generally, payday loans and cash advances have the highest interest rates compared to installment loans and bad credit loans (though the last loan type can also have very bad interest rates).

According to MoneyMutual themselves, the average interest rates for their lenders’ bad credit and payday loans hover between 200% and 1300%. Some states do have laws protecting borrowers that limit interest rates from getting too high, but not all.

Terms, similar, also very heavily between lending companies. In general:

• payday loans and cash advances have terms between 2-4 weeks
• installment loans typically have terms between one month and six months, though some go up to a year
• bad credit loans can have short terms of around a few months all the way up to a year or more

What We Like About MoneyMutual

There’s a lot to like about MoneyMutual, starting with its ease of use.

At its core, MoneyMutual is a fairly useful service that makes the approval process for bad credit or payday loans an absolute breeze compared to tracking down different companies yourself and comparing all their information. Fill out one form, then compare the loans that different companies might decide to offer. Easy, right?

Furthermore, the website itself is fairly straightforward, and the loan approval process should only take a few minutes. The interface isn’t overly complex, and the site overall is also quite secure so your identifying and banking information isn’t put at unnecessary risk.

We also really like that MoneyMutual doesn’t charge any extra fees for its services. This is particularly nice since it can be hard to get a bad credit or payday loan without feeling like you’re getting scammed or charged extra by companies trying to take advantage of you. 

Even better, MoneyMutual has a selection of educational resources available. You can use these to read up on more information about the above loan types – many of the resources have tips to help users avoid predatory loans or fees that might trap them in a debt spiral. This is especially pertinent in the coronavirus era, where predatory lenders specifically target those who need payday loans the most.

While all of the lenders MoneyMutual might connect you with are legitimate, this is still great and is very valuable for borrowers who may not be very financially literate.

The lenders in MoneyMutual’s network don’t showcase many of the common signs of payday loan scams: for instance, requiring payment to be sent in strange currencies or sending funding via odd checks, or asking borrowers to agree to debt collector calls.

Lastly, MoneyMutual’s big strength is definitely its speed. Taking out a loan at a traditional, brick-and-mortar lending institution might require you to spend several days before you get the funds you need. With MoneyMutual, you could potentially get funding in less than 24 hours.

Where MoneyMutual Can Improve

Although there are plenty of things that MoneyMutual does right, there are also areas where the service can significantly improve.

For starters, you don’t get to directly compare terms or conditions for loans before you start the loan approval process. This does mean you’ll need to somewhat painstakingly read through every loan offer you get, and the ranges or estimates offered on the main website may not apply to your situation depending on the lenders that send you offers.

Furthermore, there’s no protection if something goes wrong with your loan. MoneyMutual completely exits the loan process once you are redirected to a lender’s site. If there’s an issue with repayment, not receiving funding, or something else, you have to take it up with the lenders themselves, not MoneyMutual.

Finally, MoneyMutual’s lender network is fairly limited in terms of the loans you can find. For instance, it’s not the best network for finding good debt consolidation or good credit personal loans.

All in all, though, MoneyMutual is a solid site that does exactly what it says on the figurative box. So long as you don’t expect it to magically make payday loans an overall safer financial proposition, you can get a lot of value out of its services.

Summary

Overall, MoneyMutual is a quality networking site that those in need of short-term loans would do well to check out. Have you had any experience with MoneyMutual? Let us know and give us your experience with their services and lender network.

MoneyMutual and the Competition

See how MoneyMutual compares to the top lending platforms by reading one of the reviews below.

• LightStream Review
• Payoff Review
• Kabbage Review
• Prosper Loans Review
• Fundera Review
• SoFi Lending Review

About the author

Tim Fries

LinkedIn Email

Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird's US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.