Community Loan Center of America

What Community Loan Center of America does

Community Loan Center of America (CLC America) operates an employer-based small-dollar loan program that provides affordable credit to low-to-moderate income workers as an alternative to predatory payday and auto-title lending. The program is run by Texas Community Capital (TCC), a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) founded in 2004 by the Texas Association of Community Development Corporations in partnership with the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation. TCC acts as the network administrator, recruiting community-based "Local Lenders" who in turn engage employers to offer the CLC program to their employees at no cost to the employer. Loans are applied for online, processed through an automated underwriting flow that does not require credit reports or collateral, and are repaid via automatic payroll deduction. The platform eliminates storefront overhead, and all borrowers receive free financial counseling.

The business model is a nonprofit franchise-style distribution structure: TCC provides software, trademarks, marketing, loan processing, and servicing to local lenders, while local lenders originate and service loans under their own balance sheets, earning interest on repayments. There is no publicly disclosed pricing; CLC markets itself as substantially cheaper than payday and auto-title lending, with $91 million in documented borrower savings relative to those alternatives. The customer base spans 471 participating employers across 19 CLC locations in Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, Missouri, Indiana, Idaho, Arizona, and New England, and the program has cumulatively originated more than 152,000 loans totaling over $150 million. Key partners include the Urban Institute (research validation), the Rio Grande Valley MultiBank (program origin), Wells Fargo, OFN, Prudential, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation, with TCC supported by a board drawn from Sunflower Bank, Brazos Valley Affordable Housing Corporation, Texas Mezzanine Fund, TSAHC, and other community development organizations.

Name

Community Loan Center of America

Legal name

Texas Community Capital

Website

https://clcamerica.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Community Loan Center of America, a program of nonprofit CDFI Texas Community Capital, operates an employer-based small-dollar loan network providing affordable payroll-deducted credit to low-to-moderate income workers as an alternative to payday and auto-title lending, with 19 locations and 471 participating employers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Development Consumer Lending

NAICS

Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (522)

SIC

Personal Credit Institutions (6141)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSAKALAI

Salary-Backed / Payroll-Deducted Secured Loans

Financial & Insurance/Lending & Consumer Finance/Pawn Loans & Collateral-Based Consumer Lending

SECONDARYBPAGALAC

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts)

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Social Enterprises & Impact Organizations

SECONDARYFSAKAGAI

SBA/Government-Backed & Development Finance Loans

Financial & Insurance/Lending & Consumer Finance/Small Business & Microenterprise Lending

Keywords

• Small-dollar consumer loans
• Workplace lending programs
• Community development lending
• Payday loan alternatives
• Employer-based lending

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Loan Interest Revenue: CLC lenders earn interest from repayment of CLC loans. The program provides loans to employees of participating employers with repayments made through payroll deduction.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Community Loan Center of America operates the CLC Affordable Small-Dollar Loan Program, which delivers affordable small-dollar consumer loans to employees of participating employers, with repayment collected through automatic payroll deduction. The program is administered as a franchise-style network of community-based local lenders (administered by Texas Community Capital) and is supported by an online loan processing and servicing platform, with free financial counseling offered to all borrowers.

Product overview

Community Loan Center of America operates the CLC (Community Loan Center) Affordable Small-Dollar Loan Program as a scalable and sustainable alternative to predatory payday and auto-title lending. The program is built on a franchise model where Texas Community Capital serves as the network administrator, recruiting community-based lenders (Local Lenders) who engage employers to offer loans to employees at no cost to employers. The core offering combines the CLC Affordable Small-Dollar Loan Program with an internal online software platform for loan processing and servicing, supported by free financial counseling for borrowers. The CLC Local Lender Franchise allows qualifying organizations to join the network with access to software, trademarks, and technical assistance. As of the available data: 19 CLC locations, 471 participating employers, 152,000 loans issued, and $150 million loaned.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CLC Affordable Small-Dollar Loan Program
• CLC Local Lender Franchise Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 152,000+ loans issued as alternatives to payday and auto title loans
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Urban InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUrban Institute published a case study on the Community Loan Center titled 'Expanding Small-Dollar Credit Through Employer-Based Programs', providing research validation of the CLC model.
• Texas Association of Community Development Corporations (TACDC)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTACDC conceptualized and initiated Texas Community Capital, which operates CLC America. Long-standing strategic partnership in community development.
• Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTSAHC partnered with TACDC to help establish TCC's purpose of providing loan products to community development organizations and low-to-moderate income households.
• Rio Grande Valley Multibank CorporationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederally certified CDFI based in Brownsville, Texas that pioneered the Community Loan Center Small-Dollar Loan Program. In 2014, TCC partnered with them to bring CLC to other communities after successful pilot in Rio Grande Valley.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• MoneyLion: MoneyLion offers a broader mobile banking, credit, and investment platform that includes Instacash advances. Comparable to CLC in serving underbanked consumers with small-dollar credit, though offering a much wider product portfolio.
• Possible Finance: Possible Finance offers affordable small-dollar installment loans via mobile app, primarily as a regulatorily compliant alternative to payday lending. Directly comparable to CLC's product positioning with a fintech/tech-forward execution model.

Direct peers

• Brigit: Brigit offers cash advances and financial wellness tools to consumers, targeting the same paycheck-to-paycheck demographic as CLC. Comparable as a small-dollar liquidity provider with optional financial-health add-ons that overlap with CLC's free counseling.
• Even (Responsive Industries): Even (formerly Even Responsible Finance) provides on-demand pay and budgeting tools via employer partnerships. Direct competitor to CLC's model of employer-anchored earned income access for hourly workers.
• Dave: Dave provides paycheck advances and small-dollar banking products to underbanked consumers via a mobile app. Comparable to CLC in serving lower-income workers needing small-dollar liquidity, though Dave's distribution is app-led and consumer-direct rather than employer-anchored.
• Earnin: Earnin offers earned-wage access and small-dollar credit products to hourly workers through employer partnerships. It is the most direct fintech competitor to CLC's payroll-deducted small-dollar loan model, with mobile-first UX and significantly more venture funding.
• PayActiv: PayActiv provides earned-wage access through employer integrations, directly mirroring CLC's employer-distribution model. It competes for the same employer relationships as CLC's 471 participating employers, though with venture backing and a more venture-grade technology stack.
• DailyPay: DailyPay offers earned-wage access products integrated with employer payroll systems. It targets the same employers seeking financial wellness benefits as CLC, with significantly larger employer footprint and a SaaS fee model.

Others

• Kiva: Kiva is a nonprofit crowdfunding platform providing 0% interest loans to underserved borrowers and small businesses. Comparable to CLC as a mission-driven nonprofit financing alternative, though Kiva uses a P2P funding model rather than employer-anchored distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Self-Help Credit Union: Self-Help is a CDFI credit union network providing responsible small-dollar and payday-alternative loans, particularly in the South. Comparable to CLC as a mission-driven nonprofit lender serving low-to-moderate income consumers, but broader in product scope and geographic reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CommunityLoanCenterAmerica
• Xx.com/CLCAmerica

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Loan Center of America