FloatMe Settlement: A Second Round of Refunds Went Out in April 2026

Who qualifies

• The refunds went to FloatMe members who paid for instant cash advances. The FTC identified them from company records, so no application, proof or claim form was ever required.
• The first distribution, on September 23, 2024, covered 449,344 members and was paid entirely by PayPal, with notification emails sent by September 20 and a 30-day window to redeem.
• The second distribution in April 2026 was limited to people who accepted their first payment. This is the detail most coverage gets wrong. If your September 2024 PayPal payment expired unredeemed, the 2026 round did not include you.
• The second-round amounts are small — 255,739 payments sharing just over $1 million, or roughly $4 each. That is what remained in the $3 million fund after the first distribution and the costs of administering it.
• Anyone who was charged the $1.99 monthly membership but could not access advances because their income came from public assistance was part of the conduct the FTC challenged under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, though the refunds themselves were distributed to members who paid for instant advances.

What FloatMe promised, what the FTC found, and how the refunds were paid

1. 1

   What FloatMe sold

   FloatMe Corp. is an online cash advance provider — an app you join for a monthly fee in order to borrow small amounts against an upcoming paycheck. The FTC says the company charged $1.99 per month to join and promised that members could access up to $50 in cash advances instantly as part of that membership. Its advertising told consumers they could get "emergency funds" for free "within minutes."

2. 2

   Allegation 1 — the advance was smaller and the speed was not free

   According to the FTC's complaint, consumers who signed up were only able to access $20 in advances, not the advertised $50. And instant access was not included: members were charged a $4 fee if they wanted the cash immediately, and otherwise had to wait up to three days. For someone paying $1.99 a month to cover a shortfall, a $4 fee on a $20 advance is a substantial cost.

3. 3

   Allegation 2 — the algorithm did not exist

   When consumers contacted FloatMe asking for a larger advance, the company told them their limit could be increased by an algorithm over time. The FTC charges that the algorithm did not exist. One company supervisor admitted in an email to colleagues that the claim was "a lie." In reality, raising a limit required a complicated series of steps with manual intervention, which the complaint says rarely happened.

4. 4

   Allegation 3 — cancellation was designed to be hard

   The FTC charges that FloatMe used dark patterns and other tricks to make cancelling a subscription difficult, and quotes co-founder Joshua Sanchez acknowledging internally that the cancellation process "make[s] it difficult for someone to quit." The process was originally manual-only, delay-filled and error-ridden. Even after consumer complaints prompted a change in 2020, problems persisted — including a system that refused cancellation requests without telling the consumer it had done so.

5. 5

   Allegation 4 — discrimination against people on public assistance

   The FTC alleged FloatMe illegally discriminated against consumers whose income came from public assistance such as Social Security, military and unemployment benefits. The company failed to consider that income at all when deciding whether someone qualified for an advance, and declined advances to those consumers — while continuing to charge them the monthly subscription for a service they could not use. This is what makes the case an Equal Credit Opportunity Act matter and not simply a false advertising one.

6. 6

   January 24, 2024 — the order

   The FTC filed its complaint and a stipulated order in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas against FloatMe Corp. and co-founders Joshua Sanchez and Ryan Cleary. The order required $3 million for consumer refunds and directed the company to stop the deceptive marketing, make cancellation easier, and institute a fair lending program. The charged violations were of the FTC Act, the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

7. 7

   September 2024 and April 2026 — the two payment rounds

   The FTC sent PayPal payments to 449,344 members on September 23, 2024, totaling more than $2.6 million; about $1.5 million of that was redeemed. With money still left in the fund, the FTC sent a second round in April 2026 — 255,739 payments totaling more than $1 million, to people who had accepted their first payment. Checks must be cashed within 90 days and PayPal payments redeemed within 30 days.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and official records

Every figure and date on this page was taken from the primary records below — court dockets, agency releases, and the settlement administrator's own notices. Payout averages we describe as averages are calculated from the official totals, not reported per-person estimates.

• FTC — FloatMe Refunds page: the April 2026 second round of 255,739 payments totaling more than $1 million, limited to people who accepted their first payment
• FTC press release, September 16, 2024 — the first round of PayPal payments to 449,344 FloatMe members on September 23, 2024, totaling more than $2.6 million
• FTC press release, January 24, 2024 — the $3 million order, the $1.99 fee, the $20 versus $50 advance, the $4 instant fee, the nonexistent algorithm, and the public-assistance discrimination charge
• FTC case record — FTC v. FloatMe Corp., Joshua Sanchez and Ryan Cleary, Western District of Texas: the January 24, 2024 complaint and stipulated order