Used Cleo for a Cash Advance? The FTC Is Sending You Money by PayPal Starting October 27.

If you ever paid Cleo to get a cash advance fast, watch your email. The FTC is sending refunds by PayPal starting October 27, and if you don’t accept yours within 30 days, you lose it.

The check won’t change your life. More than $15.8 million split across 2,124,796 people works out to about $7.44 on average, by our math. Claim it anyway. It’s your money. And the fee behind it is worth understanding, because it’s the kind you can stop paying.

What Cleo promised

Cleo is a personal finance app that offers cash advances. Its ads, per the FTC, offered access to “hundreds of dollars.” The National Law Review’s write-up of the complaint quotes the pitch as “up to $250.” The FTC said almost no one got close to the advertised amounts.

Then there was speed. Cleo advertised instant or same-day money. Getting it same-day cost an extra “express fee,” which the FTC said was sometimes tucked in a footnote. The Law Review puts it at $3.99. And even after you paid it, the FTC said the money could still land the next day.

One customer’s complaint, quoted by the FTC: “I just subscribed and paid for IMMEDIATE 35 dollars. Now I go on here and it says up to 24 hrs.”

Cleo agreed in March 2025 to pay $17 million to settle the FTC’s charges. The October 8 announcement is the payout.

What that fee really costs

Here’s what they don’t tell you. A flat fee on a tiny, short loan is an interest rate in disguise.

Say you take a $100 advance, pay the $3.99 express fee, and repay it in two weeks. That works out to an APR of about 104%. APR is the yearly cost of borrowing, so you can compare it to anything else. Add a monthly subscription on top and the number climbs fast.

Cleo called it an express fee. Your wallet doesn’t care what it’s called.

Do this now

Check your inbox and spam folder for the refund notice email, which goes out through October 26. PayPal payments start October 27. Accept yours within 30 days.

Don’t pay anyone to “unlock” it. The FTC says it never asks for money or account information to send a refund. If a message does, it’s a scam. Real questions go to the refund administrator, Rust Consulting, at 877-788-4958.

Then look at what you’re paying now. If you still use any advance app, add up a month of subscription and speed fees and divide by what you actually borrowed. If that number scares you, a credit union payday alternative loan or a small personal loan can cost less. Price one with our loan calculator and compare lenders on our loans hub. Our breakdown of the federal bill aimed at paycheck advance apps covers what those apps may soon be barred from charging.

Seven dollars back is fine. Not paying the fee next time is better.

How Candid Yak makes money. Some of the products we write about pay us if you apply or sign up through our links. That never changes our verdict, our rankings, or the numbers in this article. We call a bad deal a bad deal whether it pays us or not. Some brands shown in our comparison tools are placeholder examples while we finalize partner agreements, and we label them as such.