Consumer complaint received 2020-05-14
Company: MoneyLion Inc.
State: PA
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect

Complaint:
On 06/01/2019, I took out a {$500.00} installment loan with Moneylion of Nevada LLC via the company 's app. The agreement terms of the " Moneylion Plus Loan '' first outlined the principal as {$500.00}, the interest rate as 5.99 %, projected funding date of 06/04/2019. Additionally, the installment loan agreement stated my APR as 5.98 %, estimate finance charge ( what the credit will cost me ) of {$15.00}, amount financed ( amount of credit provided to me ) as {$500.00}, and estimated total payments ( total amount paid after making all scheduled payments ) as {$510.00}. The payment terms were agreed as : 25, biweekly, payments of {$19.00} beginning 06/14/2019, and a final payment of {$19.00} on 05/29/2020. In order to obtain this loan, I was required to " upgrade '' from their free membership to their Moneylion Plus membership. The membership costs were outlined as {$29.00} per month ( membership fee ), and at least {$50.00} minimum deposited into a MoneyLion Investment Account. These fees are automatically debited from my checking account with my bank, which is necessary to link in order to sign up. Upon enrolling, I was informed that I could cancel my membership after 30 days. I would not have signed up if I knew that I would be paying for the loan plus membership for 12 months. I did not sign any agreement stating that I would pay membership fees for 12 months, and I have contacted MoneyLion to cancel my membership multiple times, as well as attempted to do so on their app. The app will not let me until my loan is " paid off '' even though, nowhere in my signed agreement does it state that I have to pay off the full loan ( unsecured installment loan ) before I can cancel my MoneyLion Plus membership. I tried to contact a representative after the first month to cancel my membership as PER agreement, I was allowed to cancel within 30 days. Moneylion requires you to submit a request via their XXXX website. I submitted requests and every time, the customer service representatives were rude and not helpful at all. I requested my membership be cancelled and was told to pay my loan. I responded back, and they closed the " support claim ''. I requested on XX/XX/XXXX to close my membership and investment accounts, and they told me again to pay off my loan ( see attached email ). I responded back, and they closed the case with no response again. In addition to my issues with the extra {$230.00} I have paid over the past 12 months after requesting my membership stop XXXX times, they also charged me fees on my investment account. I deposited {$10.00} into this account, and they have charged me XXXX {$1.00} fees over the past 12 months, which were never outlined in the agreement I had signed. The {$1.00} fee was taken from the investment account ( I requested to have closed XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, twice on XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. Therefore, my {$10.00} investment is currently worth {$7.00}, with no way to change or close that. I dont even want this account! MoneyLion prays on people with their deceptive marketing and appropriating impossible obstacles to inhibit any ability to fulfill their concealed cancelation conditions. They continue to take money from the bank, without any means for a member such as myself to find some type of help or relief. Last, there has been NUMEROUS issues with their processing of payments where MoneyLion states the payment has not been received and they will revoke or suspend your account with NO access given until paid. It is impossible to pay, even when you hit the pay button, and never processes correctly, and I have multiple emails PROVING my payments had processed and they refused to update the information on XXXX different occasions. XXXX of the payments did not process because their system UNLINKED my bank account, and no matter what I did or how many times I re-linked it with their app, the payment would not update. However, I do have proof that I still paid each payment twice a month, as agreed, and paid back the XXXX {$50.00} instacash I borrowed. They charged me {$53.00} to borrow it, once again, taking more money from me. The loan is not 5.99 % or 5.89 % APR, with the required membership the {$500.00} loan ends up costing {$750.00}, not {$510.00} as outlined in the attached agreement. This is not including the instacash charges and investment fees. To top this all off, I have proof of my payments made each month, biweekly, and they recently reported that I was 30 days late XX/XX/XXXX, 60 days late XX/XX/XXXX, and 90 days late XX/XX/XXXX to all THREE credit bureaus. This has brought down my XXXX XXXX MAJORLY affecting my current credit cards and resulting in accounts being closed by creditors AND my credit limit decreasing DRASTICALLY. Thus, affecting my credit utilization and my XXXX XXXX EVEN MORE!!! I cant apply for credit if I want to now. MoneyLion has taken advantage of me, my finances, and ILLEGALLY collected money with deceptive tactics and HIDDEN terms OR terms that were added after I signed my agreement that I DID NOT AGREE TO!!!! I demand compensation for the charges I couldnt stop, the loan that has COST me more than it was worth, and for affecting my credit to the point where I can not get or use credit!!! This is not the first case, there have been lawsuits and class actions for the XXXX reason, and this company continues their misleading practices to steal money from people looking for a little help!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation