Tribal installment loans are made by lenders owned by Native American tribes and governed by tribal — not state — law. Typical ranges: $200 to $3,000 (up to $5,000 for returning customers at some brands), repaid over months, with disclosed APRs from ~74% to 780%. Because state caps do not bind, the total-of-payments line is the only honest price tag; several lenders exclude 10–22 states each.
$300–$800 typical; up to $1,500 for preferred (10+ loan) customers
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
$200–$3,000 (marketing cites up to $5,000)
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
$300–$1,200 new; up to $3,000 for VIP returning customers
Fort Belknap Indian Community
Up to $2,000 new; up to $3,750 at top rewards tier
Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara Nation — Three Affiliated Tribes
$200–$1,000 first loan; up to $4,500 for returning customers
Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Reservation
Up to $3,000 credit line
Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana — MobiLoans, LLC
Up to $2,000 first-time; up to $2,500 repeat
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
Up to $1,000
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe
$200–$1,500 first loan; up to $5,000 returning
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
Paused — not funding new loans
Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake
$100–$1,200 (first loan cap $1,200)
Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of Stewarts Point Rancheria
$200–$3,000
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
Only a minority of brands publish numeric rates. Among those that do: Spotloan caps new-borrower APR at 490% and steps the rate down with consecutive on-time payoffs; Northern Star Lending discloses 630%–780%; Mobiloans (a line of credit, not fixed installments) publishes 73.89%–413.20% depending on how long you carry it. Where a brand says only “an expensive form of borrowing,” treat the missing number as the review — our individual pages note exactly what each lender withholds.
Structure differs too: most brands step up amounts and step down rates for repeat customers, several waive fees for early payoff, and one (Mobiloans) charges no fees at all if you repay by the due date. Read the per-lender page before assuming the first offer is the benchmark.
An installment loan made by a lender owned by — and operating under the law of — a federally recognized Native American tribe. Sovereign immunity means state rate caps generally do not apply, so APRs are high (commonly 250%–700% where disclosed), but repayment spreads over months instead of one payday.
They are legal under tribal law, and tribes assert federal law preempts state licensing. Several states and regulators dispute this; courts have split (e.g., Big Picture Loans survived an arm-of-the-tribe challenge in 2019). Practical rule: they are enforceable against you, and dispute rights usually route to tribal forums or arbitration.
Each lender publishes its own exclusion list and changes it without much notice — together the lenders in our table exclude 30+ states in various combinations. Always check the lender’s current list before applying; a few verify state eligibility only by phone.
Not in APR terms — a capped two-week payday loan at ~$15 per $100 is often cheaper per dollar borrowed. The tribal product wins on structure: installments you can actually afford. Compare total of payments, not the payment size.
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