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Minnesota AG sues cash advance app Brigit over alleged breach of state lending laws. * Bill Lukitsch, The Minnesota Star Tribune * Jun 11, 2026 The app-based cash advance business Brigit is in the state's crosshairs over small loans that officials say carry super-sized interest rates of more than 700% in some cases. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued the company on Wednesday, saying the loans violate the state's caps on interest rates and carry terms that are not clearly disclosed to consumers. He said Brigit - officially Bridge It Inc. - needs to follow the same laws as any payday lender and not "take advantage of people who take desperate measures to afford their lives." Brigit Chief Operating Officer Fara Remtulla said Ellison is mischaracterizing the company's earned wage access product as a payday loan. "Brigit has operated in Minnesota for years, serving thousands of customers, with only a handful of complaints - a track record that speaks for itself," Remtulla said in a statement. "Brigit will defend this product, and the working Minnesotans who rely on it, vigorously." Brigit offers its products through a cellphone app. Users choose between repayment terms for its "Instant Cash" option through a tiered subscription model, between $8.99 and $15.99 per month. Those without the premium version pay "delivery" fees between $0.99 and $5.99 to process a transaction instantly. Available cash advances run between $25 and $500. Brigit advertises its service as a way to get cash quickly and easily while building credit and improving finances. Brigit says its loans carry 0% interest. But according to the state's lawsuit, annual percentage rates on the small-dollar loans regularly tally above 300%, with some above 700%. These "extremely high rates of borrowing" are not disclosed to consumers, the attorney general alleges. Remtulla said several other states, including Wisconsin and Indiana, have passed laws to distinguish "Earned Wage Access" from payday lending. In Wisconsin's, for example, providers operate under a separate regulatory framework on fees and mandatory consumer disclosures. Remtulla said Brigit is a "safe, affordable alternative" for Minnesotans to access money rather than overdrawing accounts or maxing out credit cards. Brigit has said payday lending laws don't apply to its conduct because the company does not sue borrowers for nonpayment, making repayment effectively "voluntary," according to the lawsuit. The company also does not report its cash advances to the major credit bureaus. Ellison rejected the idea that the loans fall outside the bounds of current regulatory requirements. "Regardless of how Brigit markets itself, the advances it offers consumers in need of cash are clearly loans," Ellison said in a statement. Brigit is owned by Plano, Texas-based Upbound Group Inc., a publicly traded holding company. Other brands in its portfolio include reverse layaway businesses Home Choice, Get It Now! and Rent-A-Center, which offer financing for products like furniture, appliances and televisions. Lauren Saunders, a senior attorney with the National Consumer Law Center, said a number of financial technology firms have emerged in the payday lending space that are detrimental for individuals. A common defense made by the lenders is that the cash advances are not actually loans or that their fees do not amount to interest and finance charges, she said, though that theory has been rejected in 14 different cases nationally. Saunders said the services exploit people who are struggling or living from paycheck to paycheck, and many become trapped in debt. Effective interest rates of 700% are common across the industry, Saunders said, as the loans tend to be small and last only a few days. She said the payday loan industry has "a long history" of sidestepping laws, and the newer fintech companies have taken to evading them and impacting consumers even more aggressively. "It's a far more vicious cycle of reborrowing than traditional payday loans," she said. 7 remaining of 8. Welcome! We hope that you enjoy our free content.

Attorney General Ellison sues to stop unlawful app-based lending. Jun 11, 2026 June 2, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison today filed a lawsuit against Bridge It, Inc., doing business as Brigit, for Brigit's violations of Minnesota's payday lending laws. AG Ellison alleges that Brigit is an unlicensed, unregistered, consumer small-loan and consumer short-term lender making a modern, online variation of payday loans. Brigit has issued tens of thousands of small and short-term loans to Minnesotans without complying with the requirements the Minnesota Legislature has created for those making certain types of loans. Annual percentage rates Minnesotans pay on Brigit loans regularly exceed 300%, with some exceeding 700%. Nowhere does Brigit disclose these extremely high rates of borrowing to the consumer. State law caps the annual percentage rate that consumer short-term loan lenders may charge at 50%. "As Attorney General, it's my job to protect consumers from businesses that try to evade the law and take advantage of people who take desperate measures to afford their lives," Attorney General Ellison said. "Regardless of how Brigit markets itself, the advances it offers consumers in need of cash are clearly loans. The legislature has wisely chosen to regulate lenders like Brigit carefully to keep short-term borrowers from being exploited and falling even further into debt. To operate in Minnesota, Brigit needs to comply with these laws when advancing funds for profit, as all payday lenders do. I'm bringing this lawsuit because it's my job to protect consumers and enforce the law to protect consumers." Brigit offers an app where consumers take out what it and others in the fintech industry call "earned wage advances." For such lending, companies advance money to consumers that meet specified criteria, including that consumers must be able to demonstrate recurring deposits to their bank accounts. Brigit calls its loans "Instant Cash" advances and claims that Minnesota's payday lending laws do not apply because its terms and conditions indicate that consumers may choose not to repay these advances. However, as Attorney General Ellison's lawsuit documents, Brigit's advances are loans by any common-sense understanding. Brigit speaks about them like loans and takes numerous steps to ensure that consumers repay them as loans. - First, in order to make the loan, Brigit requires a consumer to preauthorize Brigit to deduct the loaned amount - plus any incurred fees - from the consumer's account at a future repayment date. - Second, Brigit does not disclose anywhere in the normal flow of its app that repayment is "voluntary." - Third, Brigit does not offer an entirely in-app cancellation mechanism or even disclose within the app how a consumer may cancel or choose not to repay. - Fourth, Brigit offers consumers "extension credits," strongly suggesting that it costs the consumer something to extend the repayment date, and consumers may only do so a specified number of times. - Fifth, when consumers do reach out to customer service, as they must do to cancel, Brigit's responses often reinforce the belief that the loan must be repaid. Taken together, Brigit's actions confirm that these "earned wage advances" are nothing more than payday loans disguised to try to circumvent Minnesota's laws. Businesses like Brigit that operate in Minnesota and make loans to Minnesotans must comply with Minnesota law, including Minnesota's robust payday-lending laws that place caps on the interest and fees that can be charged and require important disclosures, among other requirements. These are important laws that protect borrowers facing financial difficulty from being exploited and sinking further into debt traps and poverty. Attorney General Ellison encourages Minnesotans to submit complaints about Brigit or other earned-wage advance lenders by filing a complaint with the Attorney General's Office via its online complaint form. The Office can also be reached by phone at (651) 296-3353 or (800) 657-3787.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ: UPBD) has acquired Brigit, expanding its customer base to approximately 4 million active users, including over 1 million paying subscribers. The acquisition enhances Upbound's platform with Brigit's digital solutions like earned wage access and credit building products. Brigit's cash flow underwriting technology will improve risk management and fraud prevention for Upbound's brands. Brigit co-founders Zuben Mathews and Hamel Kothari will continue to lead the Brigit team.