Oportun Brings Its Responsible Small Dollar Credit to Arizona

REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwired - May 31, 2016) - Oportun, a mission-driven financial services company that provides small dollar credit to Latinos and others with limited credit history, today announced that it has opened its first location in Phoenix, making its responsible, affordable, and credit-building loans available to Arizona borrowers for the first time.

Oportun's proprietary system -- which leverages alternative data, advanced analytics, and ten years of insights gained from serving customers -- determines every loan applicant's ability to repay and then approves loans for those it calculates are likely to repay on time. The company also sets loan amounts and terms to fit individual budgets, giving borrowers several months to pay back their loan. Equally important, Oportun reports customer accounts to credit bureaus to help customers establish or build credit history. Founded in 2005, the company currently operates more than 190 locations in California, Illinois, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and now Arizona.

According to a study conducted in California, Illinois, and Texas on Oportun's behalf by the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), a leading authority on consumer financial health, the alternatives typically available to people with limited credit history -- including payday, auto-title, and pawn loans -- are on average more than three times more expensive than Oportun loans but can be up to seven times more expensive.

"Individuals with limited credit history don't have a lot of options if they need to borrow money for an unexpected expense," said Oportun CEO Raul Vazquez. "We know there are many responsible, hard-working Arizonans who are both willing and able to repay a loan on time, despite their lack of credit history. We look forward to lending them the money they need while giving them the opportunity to establish their credit history."

About Oportun
Oportun, formerly known as Progreso Financiero, is a mission-driven financial services company that uses advanced data analytics and technology to provide responsible, affordable personal loans to Latinos and others with little or no credit history. The company's centralized data analytics 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 individual budgets. Customer account information is also reported to credit bureaus to help customers establish credit history. Since its founding in 2005, Oportun has helped more than 725,000 customers by disbursing more than $2.4 billion through more than 1.4 million small dollar loans. The company delivers customer service with bilingual staff across channels and operates more than 190 locations in California, Illinois, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and now Arizona.