Great Plains Lending Closed
Otoe-Missouria Tribe · 2011–2021
Every Great Plains Lending debt was cancelled — any origination date, no window. If someone is collecting one today, they are collecting a debt that no longer exists.
Do I still owe Great Plains Lending?
- Collection status
- Stopped January 1, 2020
- Debt relief
- ALL Great Plains debts cancelled (any origination date) under Think Finance settlements
- Cash fund
- Part of ~$1B Think Finance relief; CFPB later distributed $384M
- Claim site
- thinkfinancesettlement.com
- Closed
- 2021
Wound down after the Think Finance bankruptcy; Connecticut cease-and-desist and penalties.
Great Plains Lending at a glance
Closed- Owning tribe
- Otoe-Missouria Tribe
- Lending since
- 2011
- Loan amounts
- $100–$3,000
- APR range
- 349–448%
- Product
- installment
- Website
- greatplainslending.com
What a Great Plains Lending loan cost
Great Plains Lending lent $100 to $3,000 at APRs of roughly 349–448% from 2011 until it wound down around 2021. Its pricing was typical for the era; what makes it unusual is the outcome. Most settlements cancel loans in a date window. The Think Finance settlements cancelled Great Plains debts outright — any origination date.
The Think Finance collapse and total cancellation
Great Plains Lending was owned by the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma but built and effectively run by Think Finance, the Fort Worth fintech that also powered Plain Green and MobiLoans. When the CFPB and Pennsylvania's attorney general sued, Think Finance filed for Chapter 11 in October 2017.
The resulting settlements delivered roughly $1 billion in aggregate relief — about $380 million in cancelled debt across 920,772 loans, plus cash funds — and the CFPB later distributed $384 million to 191,000 borrowers in May 2024. Connecticut separately hit the operation with cease-and-desist orders and $1.5 million in penalties over rates up to 448.76%. The tribe's surviving brand is American Web Loan.
Frequently asked questions
What happened to Great Plains Lending?
It was a Think Finance-run brand fronted by the Otoe-Missouria Tribe. Think Finance filed for bankruptcy in 2017 after CFPB and Pennsylvania AG suits, and Great Plains wound down around 2021. The tribe’s surviving brand is American Web Loan.
Was Great Plains Lending a real tribal lender?
It was owned by the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, but built and effectively operated by Think Finance — the same non-tribal fintech behind Plain Green and MobiLoans, which is what the CFPB and state AGs targeted.
This brand is one of many that stopped lending — and in several cases the balances were legally wiped out in a settlement. See the full picture: which tribal lenders shut down, and were the debts cancelled?