Payday Lenders Compared: Nimble, Fundo, MoneySpot, Cash Train and Wallet Wizard
Key takeaways
- Nimble, Fundo, MoneySpot, Cash Train and Wallet Wizard all offer small online loans in Australia, but they are not identical: Nimble spans roughly $300 to $5,000, Fundo, MoneySpot and Cash Train sit in the Small Amount Credit Contract bracket up to $2,000, and Wallet Wizard offers unsecured personal loans and a revolving line of credit.
- Product type matters more than brand: a Small Amount Credit Contract (up to $2,000, 16 days to 12 months) is priced with capped fees, a Medium Amount Credit Contract ($2,001 to $5,000) uses a capped establishment fee plus a capped annual rate, and a line of credit is a revolving limit rather than a fixed loan.
- For a Small Amount Credit Contract, Australian law caps the cost at a 20% establishment fee plus a 4% monthly fee; that is a legal maximum, not a quote, and the licensed lender that assesses you sets the actual figure.
- Every lender on this page must hold an Australian Credit Licence, assess affordability under responsible-lending law and belong to AFCA, which is why no licensed lender can honestly promise guaranteed approval or no credit check.
- Cheaper routes are worth ruling out first: a Centrelink Advance Payment is interest-free, a No Interest Loan (NILS) charges no interest and no fees, and the National Debt Helpline (1800 007 007) offers free financial counselling. Perfect Payday is a credit referral service, not a lender, and is not affiliated with any brand named here.
Quick honesty note. Perfect Payday is not a lender and is not affiliated with Nimble, Fundo, MoneySpot, Cash Train or Wallet Wizard. It’s a trading name of Tiny Ventures (ABN 52 168 226 480), Credit Representative No. 516845, a credit referral service. When you apply, we may pass your details to a panel of licensed lenders who assess your application and set any rate. We don’t decide that, and we may receive a fee if you proceed. These brands are named here only so you can compare them honestly, including against options that aren’t a loan at all.
Five names come up again and again when Australians search for a small loan online: Nimble, Fundo, MoneySpot, Cash Train and Wallet Wizard. They advertise similar things, and a lot of comparison pages treat them as interchangeable. They aren’t quite. The amounts differ, and so does the type of credit contract you end up signing, which changes what the lender can charge and what protections apply. This page sets out what genuinely separates them, what the law fixes for all of them, and which cheaper routes are worth ruling out before you apply anywhere.
The five lenders side by side
The table covers only what we can state from each lender’s own product positioning. Where a brand doesn’t publish a figure clearly, we’ve said so rather than guessed. Nothing here is an offer or a quote.
| Lender | Typical amount | Product type | Typical term | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nimble | $300–$5,000 | SACC at the small end; MACC or personal loan above $2,000 | Weeks to months | One of the best-known online short-term brands; phone and web application with a fast decision |
| Fundo | $300–$2,000 | SACC | 16 days to 12 months | Online and app-based application; assessment and payout often within one to two business days |
| MoneySpot | Up to $2,000 | SACC | 16 days to 12 months | Online application with a same-day outcome in many cases |
| Cash Train | Up to $2,000 | SACC | 16 days to 12 months | Straightforward online short-term lending, typically same day to 48 hours |
| Wallet Wizard | Varies — check with the lender | Unsecured personal loan and a revolving line of credit | Varies — check with the lender | A consumer lending brand of ASX-listed Credit Corp Group; a direct lender, applied for entirely online |
Speed and amount ranges are typical, not promises. Timing depends on the lender, your bank and how quickly you verify your details. Applying never guarantees approval.
Two things stand out. Nimble is the only one of the five that clearly stretches past the $2,000 mark into larger products, so it’s competing in a different bracket at the top of its range. Wallet Wizard is structurally different again: it’s a Credit Corp brand offering unsecured personal loans and a line of credit, not a payday product in the classic sense, and a revolving limit behaves nothing like a fixed short-term loan.
Why the brands look so similar
The other three are close cousins because the law makes them so. Fundo, MoneySpot and Cash Train all sit in the same regulated bracket, and that bracket dictates the amount, the term and the price ceiling. A lender can undercut the ceiling, but none can exceed it. So switching between these brands rarely moves the price much.
What does differ is worth knowing: who they’ll consider, how fast they move, how they handle a missed payment, and how plainly they set out the total you’ll repay before you sign. Those are the comparison points that actually change your experience.
SACC, MACC or line of credit
The product type is the single most useful thing to identify before you compare anything else.
A Small Amount Credit Contract (SACC) is a loan of up to $2,000 repaid over 16 days to 12 months. It has no annual interest rate in the usual sense. Instead it carries two capped fees, which is why SACC pricing looks so uniform across brands.
A Medium Amount Credit Contract (MACC) covers $2,001 to $5,000. This one works differently: a one-off establishment fee capped at $400, plus an annual interest rate that is also capped. If you’re borrowing at the upper end of Nimble’s range, you’re probably looking at a MACC or a standard personal loan, not a payday product.
A line of credit isn’t a single loan at all. You’re approved for a limit, you draw on it, repay, and can draw again. That flexibility is genuinely useful for some people. It also makes it easier to carry a balance for far longer than you intended, so treat the limit as a ceiling rather than a target.
What these lenders can legally charge
For a SACC, the maximum is fixed: an establishment fee of up to 20% of the amount borrowed, plus a monthly fee of up to 4%. Those two figures are the entire cost of credit. They’re a legal ceiling rather than a price list, and a licensed lender is free to charge less. To see what the caps come to on the amount and term you have in mind, run the numbers through our payday loan cost calculator and read the result as the most a licensed lender could charge.
A second protection sits alongside the caps. A SACC lender generally can’t sign you up if your total SACC repayments would exceed 10% of your net income. This is the protected-earnings rule, and a lender that ignores it has given you solid grounds for an AFCA complaint.
If you default. On a Small Amount Credit Contract, a lender can’t recover more than twice the amount you borrowed, plus reasonable enforcement costs. That’s a backstop for the worst case, not a reason to relax about missing payments. Talk to the lender early: every licensed lender must have a hardship process.
How all five are regulated
Every lender named on this page must hold an Australian Credit Licence or operate as an authorised credit representative. That licence brings obligations that matter to you:
- Responsible lending. Before approving anything, the lender must check that the loan suits your needs and that you can repay it without substantial hardship. This is precisely why “guaranteed approval”, “instant approval” and “no credit check” are not real features of a licensed Australian loan. Treat them as a reason to close the tab.
- AFCA membership. If a lender treats you unfairly, you can complain for free to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority at afca.org.au or on 1800 931 678. There’s no cost and no need for a lawyer.
- Capped fees for trouble. Dishonour and late fees are also limited, though they still add up quickly if repayments bounce.
The regulator’s own plain-English overview sits on ASIC Moneysmart, which is a good neutral second opinion on anything you read here.
Comparing them sensibly
Once you know the fee ceiling is shared, the useful comparison shifts to fit. Five checks do most of the work:
- Match the product to the need. A $400 gap before payday and a $4,000 car repair call for different products. Reaching for a SACC when you need a MACC, or a line of credit when you need a one-off loan, costs you more than picking the wrong brand ever will.
- Add up the total, not the repayment. A longer term means smaller instalments and a bigger total, because the monthly fee applies every month. Shorter terms bite harder each fortnight but cost less overall.
- Check eligibility before you apply. Some lenders count Centrelink payments as income and some want a minimum regular wage. Knowing this in advance saves you an unnecessary knock-back on your credit file.
- Confirm the licence and AFCA membership. You can look up an Australian Credit Licence on ASIC Connect. Our guide on how to check a lender is legitimate walks through the steps.
- Read what happens when things go wrong. Hardship terms, late fees and direct-debit arrangements tell you more about a lender than its homepage does.
One brand deserves a separate mention. If you’re comparing these lenders because you once used or considered Cigno, read our page on loans like Cigno first. Cigno and its associated entities faced repeated ASIC enforcement action over fee structures built to sit outside the standard caps, and the contrast with a licensed SACC lender is the clearest illustration of why the licence matters.
Cheaper alternatives worth checking first
Any of the five lenders above can solve a genuine short-term gap. None of them is the cheapest way to cover one. Before you apply, spend ten minutes on these:
- Centrelink Advance Payment. If you receive an eligible payment, you can usually bring part of it forward and repay it from future payments, interest-free. See the Services Australia advance payments page.
- No Interest Loans (NILS). For essentials like car repairs, a fridge or medical costs, Good Shepherd’s scheme lends with no interest and no fees. Use the NILS locator or call 13 NILS (13 6457).
- National Debt Helpline, 1800 007 007. Free, confidential financial counsellors who work for you, not a lender, at ndh.org.au. If repayments are already tight, this call helps more than another loan will.
- Credit union or bank personal loan. For anything above a couple of thousand dollars, this is almost always cheaper than a payday-style product if you can wait a few days.
Our fuller rundown of alternatives to payday loans covers each of these in more depth, and the best loan companies in Australia guide sets out what to look for in any provider.
The bottom line
Nimble, Fundo, MoneySpot, Cash Train and Wallet Wizard are not five versions of the same thing. Three of them compete inside the SACC bracket where the law fixes the ceiling, Nimble reaches into larger contracts with a different fee structure, and Wallet Wizard offers personal lending and a revolving line of credit from a listed parent company. Identify which product you actually need, confirm the licence and AFCA membership, add up the total rather than the instalment, and rule out the free and low-cost options first.
If you’ve done that and a small short-term loan is still the right fit, you can apply below. We’ll pass your details to a panel of licensed lenders who assess affordability and make any decision. Applying is free and never guarantees approval.