Consumers Receive Settlement From Earned Wage Access App Brigit After Lawsuit

When you are young and have no financial responsibilities, the anticipation of payday is fun, because you get to spend your paycheck on fun stuff.  As you work each shift, you imagine the money adding up and look forward to splurging it on junk food and Laser Tag on the weekends.  Waiting for payday is several orders of magnitude less fun when you are the only source of financial support for yourself or for someone else, especially when bills are due before payday, and you have no means to pay them, so the late fees pile up instead of the anticipation of weekend fun.  Therefore, it is easy to understand the popularity of earned wage access apps, and it is easy to understand why they make so many consumers’ debt problems worse.  If you are in over your head with debts owed to earned wage access platforms, contact a Philadelphia debt relief lawyer.

The Trouble With Earned Wage Access Apps

Brigit is just one of many earned wage access apps, but a popular promotion it offered has landed it in legal trouble with regulators.  Brigit attracted customers to sign up for its Plus subscription, which cost $9.99 per month, by offering an instant $250 cash advance to subscribers upon subscribing or whenever they requested it thereafter.  The trouble is that the cash advance turned out to be a Trojan horse.  It came with so many hidden fees that, by the time it was paid off, customers had paid much more than $250, and the platform was not transparent with customers about the fees before they signed up.

Consumers complained to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and based on their numbers and the unfair practices they alleged, Brigit came across looking like a next generation payday lender.  In November 2024, the FTC responded to the complaints by ordering Brigit to pay $17 million in refunds, distributed among more than 1.8 million customers.

Where Do We Go From Here?

No one goes to work with the intention of borrowing that day’s wages from an earned wage access app as soon as they clock out, only to pay them back later with interest.  People used earned wage access apps because they need the money and have few other options for borrowing; they cannot qualify for conventional loans or credit cards.  Like payday loans before them, and like buy now pay later (BNPL), earned wage access apps can easily become a vicious cycle.

If you are stuck in a cycle of borrowing from earned wage access apps and getting deeper into debt with each passing pay period, you should meet with a debt lawyer and look at the big picture about your financial situation.

Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com About Earned Wage Access Debt

A Philadelphia consumer law attorney can help you if earned wage access debt is stressing you out.  Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com to set up a free, confidential consultation.

Sources:

ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/11/ftc-sends-more-17-million-consumers-harmed-brigits-deceptive-claims-junk-fees-confusing-cancellation

ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/11/ftc-action-leads-18-million-