Blue Trust Loans

Blue Trust Loans is no longer accepting applications; it stopped making new loans around 2022. It was an online installment lender for people with bad credit, run by Hummingbird Funds LLC in Hayward, Wisconsin, a business owned by the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.

Because it was a tribal lender, Blue Trust said its loans were governed by tribal law, not state lending laws. That is why its rates were far higher than most states allow for licensed lenders.

Blue Trust Loans requirements

Blue Trust didn't set a minimum credit score. To qualify you needed:

• To be at least 18 years old
• A regular source of income
• An active checking account that accepted direct deposits
• A valid phone number and email address
• To live in a state where Blue Trust lent (see the list of excluded states below)

Active-duty military members, their spouses and dependents could not borrow.

Blue Trust Loans rates and terms

What that cost in practice: at $59 per $100 a month, a $1,000 loan could cost up to $590 in interest in the first month alone. For comparison, a credit union payday alternative loan is capped at 28% APR.

How a Blue Trust loan worked

1. Online application. You filled in a form on bluetrustloans.com with your income, employment and bank details. There were no stores.
2. Review and offer. A representative reviewed the request and gave you the exact amount, rate and payment schedule.
3. E-signature. If you accepted, you signed the loan agreement online.
4. Deposit. The money went to your checking account the same or the next business day.
5. Automatic payments. Installments were withdrawn from your account on each payday until the loan was repaid.

Customers who repaid on time could qualify for lower rates and larger loans, up to $3,000, on later borrowing.

Still have a Blue Trust loan?

• Keep your paperwork. Save your loan agreement and a record of every payment. You'll need them for any question about your balance.
• Check who is collecting. Use the contact details on your latest statement to confirm who services the loan now and how much you owe.
• Control automatic debits. You can revoke the authorization in writing and ask your bank to stop recurring payments; banks must honor a stop request made at least three business days before the payment date.
• Verify any collector. If a collection agency contacts you, you have the right to ask it in writing to validate the debt before you pay.
• Watch your credit report. Get your free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and dispute any entry that's wrong.
• Get help if needed. You can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or your state attorney general's consumer office.

Lawsuits involving Blue Trust Loans

Blue Trust has been named in at least two federal class actions. In Easley v. Hummingbird Funds, filed in 2019 in the Southern District of Alabama, a borrower claimed its loans exceeded Alabama's legal interest limits; in July 2020 a magistrate judge recommended that tribal immunity did not shield the individual defendants, and the case later went to the Eleventh Circuit on appeal. In September 2023, Kalkbrenner v. Hummingbird Funds was filed in federal court in Illinois with similar claims under Illinois law. The plaintiffs' allegations have not been proven in court. As of October 2026, we found no public record of a final ruling, settlement or cancellation of Blue Trust debts in these cases.