What’s a Direct Lender? Do your research!

Not all loan companies are the same. Some aren’t even loan companies. Did you know that many loan companies aren’t the direct lender? What does that even mean? Have you ever applied on a loan website and all of sudden, your email inbox is full of loan offers from other companies that you didn’t even apply at? Maybe you’ve even received a call from a loan company that you didn’t even apply at. These are what’s called a lead generator. These websites look and feel like an actual company that provides loans. But they are far from it. What a lead generator does is provide a website for you to apply, and once you do, they sell your personal data to an actual direct lender. Their website certainly feels like they do. Verbiage like “Instant approval”, $500 loan in minutes”, and “Loans up to $3000.00”, however the pitch is, the loan isn’t from them. The loan would be with whomever buys your application from the lead generator.

How it works

Once you submit your application at a lead generation website, their system is hooked up to hundreds of direct lenders all bidding for your application at the same time. Whichever lender bids the highest for your application, gets the application. The problem with this, as all lenders get to see your application, even though they’re outbid by another lender, they’ll store your personal information and market to you. That’s why you get hundreds of marketing emails from companies that you didn’t apply at.

How do I tell if a website is a direct lender or a lead generator?

Take a look at the website small print disclaimer. It will say something to the effect of “the website” is not an offer to lend. “The website only provides a service and is not a direct lender.” “The website collects personal information and forwards it to partners in our lending network.” Lead generators are legally obligated to disclose this information on their site so pay attention to the fine print.

KeyX Financial is a direct lender. If you apply with us, we’ll be the ones lending our money to you. We don’t buy customer data, and are not affiliated with any lead generator. Your application information is safe and secure with us, and stays with us. We will never sell your information to another lending company. This is our promise to you.