Subprime Lender

See: Subprime. See: Lender. See: Loan.

These are the thrill junkies, the banking analog to the guys who jump out of airplanes at night from 37,000 feet and just land wherever they see fit. On the one hand, they're loaning money to meth heads and ex-prisoners and ne'er-do-wells...and on the other hand, they're lending to teenagers with no credit, families new to America, and those who...credit-stumbled in the past. So they charge a lot of rent on the principal they're loaning (i.e., the interest) and they only loan in small amounts with all kinds of strings attached.

But when the bills actually get paid on the loans and/or the loans get paid off, then these lenders make...bank. That is, the money is the same color whether it was a 3% cost loan to Bill Gates or a 17% cost loan to MethHead Harry. If Harry pays back his loan fully, then the subrpime lender has made a relative fortune versus Bank of America, who loaned money to Bill to pay for a really good dry cleaner, or whatever else he "needs."