How to check if a financial company is legit

To check if a financial company is legit, confirm it is licensed or registered with the right regulator, then look at its complaint record and how it responds to problems. Use NMLS Consumer Access for lenders, loan servicers and money transmitters, FDIC BankFind for banks, the NCUA for credit unions, and FINRA BrokerCheck for investment firms. Then make sure you are dealing with the real company, not an impostor using its name.

Step 1: Confirm the license or registration

Most companies that handle your money must be licensed, chartered or registered. A real company is usually easy to find in the official lookup tools. If you cannot find it, or the details do not match, stop.

When you look a company up, check three things:

• The exact legal name matches what is on the website, contract or app store listing
• The license covers your state and the product you are buying, such as a mortgage or a money transfer
• The official website and phone number in the regulator's record match the ones you were given

Many fintech apps are not banks themselves. They partner with a licensed bank that holds your money. A legit app will name its partner bank clearly, usually at the bottom of its website and in its terms. Look that bank up too.

Step 2: Check its complaint record

A license proves a company exists. It does not tell you how it treats customers when something goes wrong. That is where a complaint record helps.

Search for the company on Complaint History's company directory. For each company you can see how many complaints it has, what people complain about, how the company responded, how often it responded on time and whether complaints are rising or falling. Many company pages also have a quick "is it legit" summary, for example is Capital One legit?

When you read a record, look at:

• Relief rate. How often complaints ended with the company actually fixing something or paying money back.
• Timeliness. Whether it answers complaints on time.
• Trend. A sudden rise can be an early warning.
• The issues. Complaints about money not arriving, frozen accounts or debts people say they do not owe are more serious than complaints about a confusing app.
• Peers. Big companies get more complaints because they have more customers. Compare similar companies on the compare page or in the rankings.

Our guide to company response types explains what each label means. Also read real customer experiences for the details numbers cannot show.

Step 3: Watch for red flags

Walk away, or at least slow down, if you see any of these:

• you are asked to pay an upfront fee for a loan, debt relief, credit repair or student loan help
• you are asked to pay by gift card, wire transfer, cryptocurrency or a payment app to a person
• a loan is "guaranteed" regardless of your credit
• investment returns are guaranteed or unusually high with "no risk"
• you are pressured to act today, or told to keep it secret from your bank or family
• the company has no physical address, or only a P.O. box or a virtual office
• the website was created very recently, or has spelling errors and generic stock photos
• contact is only by text, social media or messaging apps
• you cannot find it in any license database, or the license is in a different name

More detail is in our guide on how to spot financial scams.

Step 4: Make sure it is really that company

Some of the most convincing scams use the name of a real, well-known bank or lender. The company is legit, but the person contacting you is not. This is called impersonation, and it is very common.

Typical tricks include:

• a text or call that looks like it comes from your bank, about "suspicious activity"
• a fake website with an address that is one letter off from the real one
• a fake customer service number in search ads or on social media
• a "loan officer" or "account manager" using a real company's name and logo
• someone claiming to be from a government agency or the "fraud department"

How to protect yourself:

1. Go to the source yourself. Type the company's web address directly, use its official app, or call the number on your card or statement. Do not use links or numbers from a text, email or caller.
2. Match the details. Compare the website and phone number with the regulator's record from Step 1.
3. Hang up and call back. If someone calls claiming to be from your bank, end the call and call the bank yourself.
4. Never share codes or passwords. A real bank will not ask for your one-time passcode, PIN or online banking password.

Checking specific types of companies

Lenders and loan offers

Confirm the lender is licensed in your state through NMLS or your state regulator. Legit lenders do not ask for a fee before giving you a loan by gift card or wire. Check the personal loan or mortgage categories to compare complaint records.

Debt collectors

If a collector contacts you, ask for a written validation notice and check whether the collector is licensed in your state if your state requires it. Fake debt collectors are common. See debt collector rights and debt validation letters.

Payment apps and crypto platforms

Check who actually holds your money and whether deposits are FDIC-insured through a partner bank. Crypto is generally not FDIC-insured. Compare records in money transfer and crypto.

Debt relief and credit repair

Be very careful. Charging upfront fees before services are delivered is generally illegal for credit repair and for debt relief sold by phone. See the debt relief category.

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