EarnIn is an earned-wage-access (cash advance) app operated by Activehours, Inc. and a cluster of affiliated LLCs (EarnIn US1 LLC and entities in the US, Canada, Thailand, and Mexico), working with Bank Partners Evolve Bank & Trust and Lead Bank. Its privacy policy discloses collection of precise geolocation and device sensor data (GPS, motion, pedometer, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi), employer/salary/time-and-attendance data, and bank routing/account numbers, and authorizes itself and financial-data aggregators (Plaid, MX, Akoya, Capital One, Wells Fargo, Atomic, Socure) to access users' bank accounts on their behalf. The same policy discloses sharing device identifiers, email addresses, and phone numbers with ad networks including LiveRamp, Facebook, Google, TikTok, Apple Search Ads, and Reddit, and its App Store privacy label confirms Identifiers are used to track users across other companies' apps and websites. The company is privately held with no public ownership filings found; the District of Columbia Attorney General sued ActiveHours Inc. (d/b/a EarnIn) in November 2024 alleging deceptive 'no interest' marketing and undisclosed fees resulting in APRs above 300% for more than 20,000 DC borrowers; in May 2025 the D.C. Superior Court dismissed the OAG's core claims -- per EarnIn's counsel, the court held that whether earned wage access is a loan is a question for the District's financial regulator rather than enforcement litigation and that the Attorney General exceeded its authority -- and in February 2026 the D.C. Court of Appeals denied the OAG's request to appeal, leaving the dismissal in place. Separately, private class actions over EarnIn's fees and tips remain pending in multiple courts; in one, a Maryland federal court held in August 2025 that the plaintiffs sufficiently allege EarnIn 'is in the business of making loans' under Maryland's Consumer Loan Law without the requisite license -- an allegation-stage ruling, not a finding of liability.
TRACK RECORD
2 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
[2025-08-08]
In Johnson v. Activehours, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-02283 (D. Md.), a proposed class action alleging EarnIn's 'lightning speed' fees and tips function as interest, the court on August 8, 2025 granted in part and denied in part EarnIn's motion to dismiss, holding that 'at this stage, Plaintiffs sufficiently allege that EarnIn is in the business of making loans subject to MCLL [the Maryland Consumer Loan Law] without the requisite license' and that plaintiffs adequately allege EarnIn is a creditor under the federal Truth in Lending Act -- allegation-stage plausibility rulings, not adjudicated findings of liability.
The District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General's own press release states that Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb filed a lawsuit on November 19, 2024 against ActiveHours Inc. (d/b/a EarnIn) alleging deceptive marketing of its 'earned wage advance' product as free of loans, fees, or interest, while charging APRs over 300% -- more than 12 times DC's 24% interest-rate cap -- to over 20,000 DC consumers. In May 2025 the D.C. Superior Court dismissed the OAG's core claims, and in February 2026 the D.C. Court of Appeals denied the OAG's request to appeal, leaving the dismissal in place.
The EarnIn App Store privacy label (developer: Activehours Inc.) discloses that Financial Info (Payment Info, Other Financial Info), Location (Precise Location), and Contact Info (Physical Address, Email Address, Name, Phone Number) are collected and linked to the user's identity.
EarnIn's Privacy Policy lists Employment Information (employer name, salary, time-and-attendance data), Financial Information (bank routing number, account number, debit card number), and Sensitive Personal Information including precise geolocation and device motion/Bluetooth/Wi-Fi signals as categories collected when using EarnIn's financial services.
EarnIn's site footer discloses its Bank Partners (Evolve Bank & Trust and Lead Bank) and states that Activehours, Inc. and EarnIn US1 LLC hold NMLS lender license numbers, verifiable via the NMLS Consumer Access registry.
EarnIn's Privacy Policy defines 'EarnIn' as Activehours, Inc. together with nine named affiliated entities spanning the US, Canada, Thailand, and Mexico, indicating a multi-entity corporate structure rather than a single operating company.
EarnIn's Privacy Policy states that by using the Services, users grant EarnIn and a named list of financial-data Service Providers -- including Plaid Inc., Capital One, MX Technologies, Wells Fargo Bank NA, Atomic, Akoya, and Socure -- authority to access and transmit the user's personal information directly from their bank.
The District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General's own press release states that Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb filed a lawsuit on November 19, 2024 against ActiveHours Inc. (d/b/a EarnIn) alleging deceptive marketing of its 'earned wage advance' product as free of loans, fees, or interest, while charging APRs over 300% -- more than 12 times DC's 24% interest-rate cap -- to over 20,000 DC consumers. In May 2025 the D.C. Superior Court dismissed the OAG's core claims, and in February 2026 the D.C. Court of Appeals denied the OAG's request to appeal, leaving the dismissal in place.
In Johnson v. Activehours, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-02283 (D. Md.), a proposed class action alleging EarnIn's 'lightning speed' fees and tips function as interest, the court on August 8, 2025 granted in part and denied in part EarnIn's motion to dismiss, holding that 'at this stage, Plaintiffs sufficiently allege that EarnIn is in the business of making loans subject to MCLL [the Maryland Consumer Loan Law] without the requisite license' and that plaintiffs adequately allege EarnIn is a creditor under the federal Truth in Lending Act -- allegation-stage plausibility rulings, not adjudicated findings of liability.
EarnIn's outside counsel Hogan Lovells announced on February 6, 2026 that the District of Columbia Court of Appeals 'denied the D.C. Office of the Attorney General's (OAG) request to appeal the dismissal of multiple claims' against Activehours, Inc. d/b/a EarnIn, leaving in place a May 2025 D.C. Superior Court ruling that 'dismissed most of the D.C. Attorney General's claims.' Per the firm's account, the trial court found that questions about whether earned wage access is a loan 'should be addressed by the District's financial regulator -- not through enforcement litigation -- and ruled that the Attorney General exceeded its authority, leading to the dismissal of OAG's core claims.'
The EarnIn App Store privacy label discloses a 'Data Used to Track You' category consisting of Identifiers, which Apple's label format defines as data used to track the user across apps and websites owned by other companies.
EarnIn's Privacy Policy states that, with consent, device identifiers, email addresses, and phone numbers may be shared with named ad-tech companies -- LiveRamp, Facebook, Google, TikTok, Apple Search Ads, and Reddit -- to manage EarnIn's advertising on their platforms.