Is MoneyLion.com a Scam? – 2019 Updated Review

Money Lion (MoneyLion.com) presents their platform as your one-stop destination for all things related to the betterment of your financial health.

Allegedly supporting over 4 million members, Money Lion supports a wide assortment of products that include investing, loans, rewards, free credit monitoring, and much more.

While Money Lion reflects an overall positive vibe amongst consumers, according to the Better Business Bureau, Money Lion has had their BBB Accreditation revoked and currently reflects a BBB rating of “F.”

To find out more regarding the legitimacy of Money Lion for 2019 and what customers are saying we invite you to read our unbiased review.

About MoneyLion.com

Money Lion was founded in 2013 to make money more approachable and to empower consumers to take greater control of their financial lives.

Launched in 2013, MoneyLion.com claims that they have 200,000 loan originated through their services will reflecting over 1 million linked bank accounts.

So what is Money Lion?

Money Lion functions as a versatile personal loan provider that provides a wide range of financial services such as banking, investing, member rewards and free credit monitoring.

As of 2019, Money Lion currently provides 2 memberships, and depending upon the membership will dictate which assortment of financial services are available to you.

MoneyLion.com Memberships

Money Lion Core

• Zero-fee checking account
• Zero-free managed investing
• 0% APR Instacash cash advances
• Up to 12% cash back rewards
• Free credit monitoring
• $25 gift cards rewards program
• 55,000 fee-free ATMs

Money Lion Plus

• All Core benefits
• Personalized Managed Investment Portfolios
• $500 5.99% APR Credit Builder Loans
• $1 daily cash back for logging into the app
• Free weekly credit score updates
• Access to members only Plus Facebook community

Money Lion Plus member comes with a $29/month fee, which can be reduced to $0 if you log into the app every day.

It should be noted that MoneyLion Plus transfers $50/month from your bank account to your Plus investment account.

Your $29/month membership fee and your $50/month investment will mean you should expect your Money Lion Plus membership to run you around $79/month.

In order to seek low-interest loans through Money Lion you must possess a Plus membership.

Qualifications

• Verified identity
• Employed with income
• Passes ability to pay criteria
• A checking account with
  • Direct deposit paychecks
  • Positive balance

If you are an active Money Lion Core member you can upgrade to Money Lion Plus relatively easily, just be aware of the total $79/month costs.

According to MoneyLion.com, there have been more than $1,000,000 in savings in less than 3 months by using their service.

MoneyLion’s Interest Rates

If you are an eligible Money Lion Plus member, all loans are said to be accompanied with a 5.99% APR.

Money Lion Rewards Program

Many of the perks that you saw disclosed within the Plus membership are the rewards currently offered by MoneyLion.com.

The ability to earn $1 per day by logging into the Money Lion app, which is available in both the Google PlayStore and Apple Store, along with the ability to build your credit.

Charging less fees than most financial institutions, Money Lion appears a more attractive opportunity than traditional options.

According to MoneyLion.com, over 3,000 members are part of the MoneyLion Plus Facebook group, where members are able to share advice, ask question and encourage one another.

As we’ve detailed previously, Money Lion offers free credit monitoring and fraud protection but to gather a better idea of how they reward their Plus members refer below:

• Sign up for a free MoneyLion Account
• Download Mobile App (+100 points)
• Connect a bank account to track spending (+500 points)
• Sign up for free credit monitoring (+100 points)
• Make payments on time (+200 points)
• Get a loan (+100 points)

We are uncertain if AMC Theaters and California Pizza Kitchen are the only outlets you can use to redeem Money Lion reward points but during the time of writing this review they were the only disclosed options on their site.

Contacting Money Lion

Detailed towards the footer of MoneyLion.com, would be the following contact information:

MoneyLion, Inc
P.O. Box 1547
Sandy, UT 84091-1547
1-888-659-8244

In addition, Money Lion states that they have offices located in New York City, San Fransisco, Salt Lake City and Kuala Lumpur.

Banking funds are said to be held by Lincoln Savings Bank, a member of FDIC, and deposits are insured up to $250,000.

Furthermore, investment funds are held by their broker dealer and qualified custodian Drivewealth LLC, while your cash and investments are protected by SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) up to $500,000, with a limit of $250,000 for cash.

Popularity

According to SimilarWeb, MoneyLion.com reflected a global rank 69,784, a US rank of 13,275 and was ranked as the 84th most popular credit, loans and mortgage site as of May 2nd, 2019.

In March of 2019, MoneyLion.com reflected a total visitor count of 744.83k – which falls significantly short of the millions of customers they allegedly support.

MoneyLion.com Reviews

MoneyLoin.com reflects an outstanding pool of customer feedback at TrustPilot.

Out of 1,983 reviews, Money Lion reflected a 4 out of 5 star rating while some of the most relevant consumer reviews we found are shared below:

“Quick loan, and has help my credit in the process!!!”

“This is a great place to increase your credit score, get loans and valuable tips to help save money. I’ve had several loans with them and they make it easy to pay back and the rates get lower with each loan. I just joined plus and it’s well worth it. My crust score has gone up almost 100 points since doing money lion loans 2 years ago”

“Seems to be a honest way to borrow and save. So far so good.”

Additional reviews can be found at the Google PlayStore and Apple Store.

Money Lion Complaints

A good quantity of complaints regarding Money Lion can be found at the Better Business Bureau.

Out of 100 complaints filed in the past 3 years, 79 of them have been resolved.

Among the chief complaints would be poor customer service and an inability to obtain liquidation of capital from Money Lion.

Detailed below are a couple of the most recent complaints we have encountered:

“they deducted $42 from my MoneyLion checking account on Feb 28th 2019, MoneyLion’s General Counsel Thomas Steele had promised to not have any loan payments taken from my account until the last day of March 2019 – I’ve called and spoke to several representatives and also emailed them about receiving a refund for this transaction- but they haven’t refunded my money- they have been ignoring my calls and emails.”

“I have been a Plus Member of MoneyLion since about January 2018. In August 2018, the mobile app and website began having login issues…One account does show that I paid off my past loan in December 2018. That should have allowed me to withdraw the $600, but my investment account does not appear in order for me to withdraw the funds. They have also continued to charge me $80 a month for my Plus membership, even though I have not been able to access it since December…I have given them a chance to fix these issues and nothing has happened.”

These complaints, and more, can be found in the Complaint section of the BBB.

Is MoneyLion.com Trustworthy?

For the time being we do not believe Money Lion to be the most trustworthy financial outlet for you to consider.

Despite their raving reviews on consumer review portals like TrustPilot, there is a serious reason behind by MoneyLion, Inc. loss their BBB Accreditation and F rating.

Money Lion Review Conclusion

MoneyLion.com provides an ample and rewarding atmosphere for their customers, or so that is how they market their platform.

Offering a wide selection of investment options, loan options, banking and other financial services, Money Lion has allegedly cultivated their operation into one that has rendered over $14 million in rewards.

While we do not feel that Money Lion is NOT the most trustworthy financial outlet for you to consider due to the controversial feedback and Better Business Bureau conflicts, that does not mean they may not render services of value to you.

With this in mind, we only advise consumers to approach Money Lion with caution.

Please feel free to share any insight, experiences or feedback you may have below!