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Who is Progress Financial?

Progress Financial is a finance lending company based in San Jose, California, that offers loans to Hispanic residents and immigrants in California under the brand name, Progreso Financiero. Progress Financial is owned and operated by Hispanics who believe in investing in the character, family values, and hard-working culture of the Hispanic immigrant community. The company’s principals come from highly respected companies, namely Bain & Company, Bank of America, McKinsey, and Morgan Stanley, and graduated from top universities, including MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.

Are you a bank?

We are licensed by the State of California as a lending institution. We do not take deposits or have customer bank accounts, but we can make all types of loans to consumers or businesses pursuant to state and national lending laws.

Is this credit available to anyone?

Anyone can apply for Progreso credit, although please note that all loan documents are in Spanish. All Progreso booths have information in English for non-Spanish-speaking customers.

What types of loans are offered?

We currently offer personal loans that are not secured by personal property or collateral like a home or car. All loan proceeds are disbursed via check or a Purchase card. We are currently working on other credit products and will advise our customers when these products come available.

What size of loans do you offer?

We currently offer $500-$2,500 loans, but we start with smaller, $500-$1,800 loans for first time borrowers.

What is the cost of your loans?

We charge interest according to California’s statutory limits on unsecured loans. The rates depend on the amount but our average customer pays no more than $100 in total interest for a typical 8-month loan. Our mission is to offer a fair alternative to high rate underground lending in this community and our customers tell us we are succeeding so far.

What can I do with the money I receive?

Make purchases and build your credit history. All credit can be used immediately for purchases inside at any of our partner stores. Most of our customers use the money for emergencies, such as sending money to a sick relative, repairing and/or buying a car, home improvements, bill consolidation, and simply, to build positive credit.

If I am approved, how do I make payments on my loan?

All customers must make weekly or biweekly payments in one of our sales locations. At the time of disbursements, you will be given an amortization table, which will list all of your future payment dates and amounts.

How long does it take to process each loan?

7 business days, though we are continuously improving our processes to reduce that time to 24 hours. Progress will call the customers when they are approved to come in and pick up their Progreso purchase card(s) or check.

How do you get customers to pay you?

We rely entirely on our proprietary scoring model to identify the customers with the highest willingness to pay. We also take what we call “moral collateral”, which is derived from our deep understanding of the local community and our presence in it. We truly become a part of the community; we are not just a piece of junk mail or a phone call, we are a known face in a known place within the community. Our average customer has to see our sales agents and pay them in person on a weekly or biweekly basis for the life of their loan. This could be anywhere from 15 to 60 unique visits. The value of that relationship is born out by our impressively low default rates.

Do you report credit?

Yes. A key part of our business is to help our customers build or improve their credit history. We report all positive and negative transactions to the credit bureaus.

What do you require to make a loan?

We have three simple requirements: proof of address, proof of income (e.g. pay stubs) and valid photo ID. Progress Financial accepts most photo identifications issued by foreign governments such as passports, consular IDs, voter’s cards and other identification. Additional documentation such as tax returns can help in the approval process but are not necessary for the application.