Advance America / Purpose Financial (Grupo Elektra)

Advance America (corporate name now Purpose Financial, LLC) has paid state regulators to resolve rate-evasion claims twice: $10 million plus about $12 million in forgiven balances in Pennsylvania (2015), where the AG said a 'monthly participation fee' was really disguised interest, and a 2018 California settlement over padding installment loans past the $2,500 rate-cap line and paying unlicensed lead generators. Neither was an admission of liability. For the DC region, the store locator lists no stores in Virginia, Maryland or DC as of Oct 2026; online availability there was not verified.

• Severity
• Evidence tierUnassigned
• Claims confirmed
• Last verified2026-10-16

Primary source. www.consumerfinancialserviceslawmonitor.com/2015/02/pennsylvania-ag-announces-10-million-settlement-with-payday-lender/ — Unverified - heuristic first draft.

Arbitration

Yes - binding individual arbitration (or small claims) plus a class, representative and private-attorney-general action waiver in the online application terms (updated June 2026).

Data sharing

GLBA privacy notice (fetched 2026-10-16): Advance America shares customer data for its own marketing and for joint marketing with other financial companies, and you cannot limit either. It also shares with affiliates to market to you and with nonaffiliates to market to you, which you can limit by mail-in form only. New customers' data can be shared starting 30 days after the notice is sent. Listed nonaffiliate recipients include lenders, collection agencies, consumer reporting agencies, debt buyers and database providers. LEAD GENERATORS: the 2018 California settlement resolved allegations that the California subsidiary paid unlicensed lead generators to acquire some customers.

Contacts

Privacy contact. Privacy questions: 1 (888) 310-4238 (GLBA notice); sharing limits via the mail-in form referenced in the notice.

Legal notice. Arbitration opt-out address: Advance America, Attn: Arbitration Opt Out, P.O. Box 2187, Greenville, SC 29602 (from terms of use). Registered agent: Not verified this pass. If publicly traded: SEC Form 10-K cover page gives the official corporate address; the Secretary of State business-entity search in the state of incorporation gives the registered agent, which must accept service. If private: the state registered agent is usually the only reliable route.

Mailing address. Not recorded.