Oportun opening 20 locations in Florida, providing affordable loans for residents with little or no credit history

Local community leaders support Oportun’s responsible approach to lending

REDWOOD CITY, CA – January 9, 2018 – Oportun, a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with a mission of providing personal loans that help people with little or no credit history establish credit and build a better future, today announced the opening of its first retail locations in Florida.

Oportun’s first four locations already employ a total of 20 Floridians, and are located in the Miami and Hialeah communities. By the end of 2018, Oportun hopes to have 20 Florida locations and approximately 90 employees. The company currently operates 264 locations across the United States.

Oportun uses advanced data analytics and technology to lend money to individuals who other lenders consider ‘unscoreable,’ and has already helped nearly half a million people establish a credit score for the first time. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) estimates that there are 45 million people in the United States whose lack of a credit score translates into limited options if they need money for an emergency or larger expense.

“According to the CFPB, Florida is home to two of the top metropolitan areas in the United States both in terms of the number of people with limited or no credit history and the percentage of the adult population they represent,” said Oportun CEO Raul Vazquez. “We want to support those Floridians by lending them the money they need today and by helping them establish the credit history they need to build a better future tomorrow.”

Local community leaders support Oportun’s responsible approach to lending.  “We welcome the addition of another CDFI like Oportun to Florida,” said Arden Shank, president and CEO, Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida. “We are pleased that Floridians with limited credit history will now have access to Oportun’s responsible and affordable loans as an option when they need money to cover an unexpected expense or a large purchase.”

“I am pleased to welcome a community-minded lender like Oportun to Florida,” added State Senator Rene Garcia. “I look forward to them creating economic opportunities for residents of Hialeah and Miami through affordable credit access and job opportunities in our community.”

Since its founding in 2005, Oportun has served more than 1.1 million customers and disbursed more than $4.6 billion in affordable, small dollar loans by using its proprietary risk engine to ‘score the unscoreable.’

Oportun customers have saved more than $1 billion dollars by choosing Oportun loans instead of one of the other alternatives widely available to individuals with limited credit history, according to research conducted on Oportun’s behalf by the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), a leading authority on consumer financial health. Those alternatives — which include payday, pawn loans and others — are four times more expensive on average but can be up to seven times more expensive.

ABOUT OPORTUN

Oportun is a mission-driven financial services company that uses advanced data analytics and technology to provide responsible, affordable personal loans to people with little or no credit history so they can establish credit. The company’s centralized system calculates each loan applicant’s ability to repay, approves those loans the company believes can be paid back, and sets loan amounts and terms to fit customer budgets. Customer account information is also reported to two nationwide credit bureaus to help customers establish credit history.

Oportun operates 264 retail locations and delivers bilingual (English/Spanish) customer service via retail locations, contact centers, and mobile to customers in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.

In recognition of Oportun’s goals of increasing economic opportunity for its clients, promoting community development, and serving low-income or underserved communities, Oportun is certified by the United States Department of Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution or CDFI.