Exodus Lending

Exodus Lending works with financially excluded Minnesotans to advance economic justice through consumer lending, community organizing, and advocacy.

We extend small-dollar consumer credit and capital to communities throughout Minnesota that other lenders have extracted, exploited, and/or left behind. 

Launched in 2015, our 0% interest Refinancing Loan program pays off up to $1.5K of payday, pawn, auto title, or online installment loans carrying more than 36% annual interest for qualified Minnesotans. Since this start, we have paid off more than $757K of high-interest loans for more than 770 Minnesotans, which we estimate has saved program participants more than $2.5 million that they would have otherwise paid to predatory lenders over a year. 

Building off this success, we are piloting an upstream, “anti-payday” Resiliency Loan to address the gap in credit access for low-income communities by providing up to $1.2K to use for essential expenses. Since 2023, we provided over $61K in Resiliency Loans to more than 50 Minnesotans through partnerships with community organizations.

We will organize and build power in partnership with our borrowers, community partners, and allies to abolish predatory lending and push for fair lending practices and products in the marketplace.

Alongside our direct lending services, our campaign and coalition, Minnesotans for Fair Lending (MFL), organizes local communities to reclaim and leverage their power. MFL spent a decade advocating for a 36% interest rate cap in Minnesota and won such reform during the 2023 legislative session. Minnesota is now the 20th state to cap interest rates on small-dollar consumer loans, in large part due to MFL’s ability to activate the voices of payday loan borrowers in pushing for change.