Personal financing in Richland County.
County-by-county financing guides. No paperwork. No social. No ID.
9 institutions are headquartered inside the Richland County line, Columbia included, and 8 more keep a branch here. Below, we say which is which.
Not this lane? Business FinancingHome Financing
The doors in Richland County.
The CDFIs, credit unions, and microlenders that actually say yes — county by county, in two languages. We are not a lender. Nobody paid to be listed. And where a county has no good doors, we say so.
- 17
- DOORS HERE
- 9
- BASED HERE
- 36
- SC COUNTIES WITH DOORS
- Lane
- Personal Financing
- People
- 416Kresidents of Richland County
- Covers
- Columbia
- Elsewhere in SC
- Greenville County →17 doors — the biggest list of any other county in South Carolina
- State
- South Carolina →36 of 46 counties hold a door in this lane
Certified by the U.S. Treasury to lend where a bank will not. Nonprofit, patient, and used to a file that is not clean.
Caro Credit Union · Self-Help Credit UnionOwned by their members, not by shareholders. They look at your whole story rather than a score, and that is the difference when a bank says no.
Caro Credit Union · Columbia Post Office Credit Union- Caro Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Columbia Post Office Credit UnionPersonal
- Curis Financial Credit UnionMinority depositoryPersonal · Home
- Palmetto Citizens Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- South Carolina Methodist Conf Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- IN THIS LIST
6 of the 17 doors inside the county line are CDFI-certified.
The U.S. Treasury certifies them to lend to the people banks pass over. It is a loan, not a favour.
- South Carolina National Guard Credit UnionPersonal · Home
- Business Development Corp of SCCommunity lending · Business capital
- Midlands Housing Trust FundCommunity lending · Business capital
Show the other 1Show fewer
- Optus Financial CorporationCommunity lending
Based elsewhere, with a member-facing office inside the Richland County line. You can walk in.
- Founders Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Grow Financial Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Mid Carolina Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Palmetto First Credit UnionPersonal · Home
- Safe Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- NO AGENDA
Nobody paid to be on this list.
The 17 doors inside the county line come off public data, and 14 of them are owned by their own members. We do not ask for your name, and we earn nothing if you knock on one door rather than another.
- Self-Help Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedMinority depositoryPersonal · Home · Business capital
Show the other 2Show fewer
- South Carolina Credit UnionPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Spero Financial Credit UnionCDFI-certifiedPersonal · Home · Business capital
- Mission Asset FundAccepts ITIN
Zero-interest lending circles and credit building. SSN or ITIN accepted. Works through nonprofit partners across the country.
Personal - Accion Opportunity FundAccepts ITIN
Nonprofit small-business lender. Accepts ITIN in place of SSN. Serves most states, in English and Spanish.
Business capital - Grameen AmericaAccepts ITIN
Microloans for women entrepreneurs. Requires photo ID and proof of address — no SSN requirement. Branches in major metro areas.
Business capital
How to read this list.
We do not ask for your name, your email, or your number. Nothing on this page changes based on who you are.
A door is headquartered here when its head office sits inside the county line. The rest are based elsewhere and keep a branch you can walk into. We list both, and we label which is which.
Every institution on this page comes from public federal data — the CDFI Fund certified list (Aug 2026), NCUA credit union data (Mar 2026), and the SBA microloan intermediary list (Sep 2026) — plus a short national tier we verified by hand. We refresh each list as its agency publishes. No listing is paid.
This guide helps solo contractors, small real-estate investors, and everyday residents in Richland County, South Carolina understand their personal financing options. It covers who qualifies, what documents to gather, and which local lenders — including CDFIs, credit unions, and ITIN-friendly institutions — actually serve this area. It also points out common traps to avoid so you can borrow with confidence and on your own timeline.
- 17
- DOORS HERE
- 53
- ACROSS SC
Based in Columbia, South Carolina. A credit union — owned by its members rather than by shareholders, which is exactly what changes the conversation after a bank has said no. It is CDFI-certified.
BEST FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and buying, repairing or refinancing a home.Based in Durham, North Carolina. A member-owned credit union, which means the people deciding on your file answer to depositors in the same towns you work in. It is CDFI-certified, and it is a minority depository.
BEST FORBuying, repairing or refinancing a home, and working capital, equipment and payroll for a small business.Based in Greenville, South Carolina. A credit union: no shareholders to satisfy, and a habit of reading a whole story rather than a single score. It is CDFI-certified.
BEST FORWorking capital, equipment and payroll for a small business, and a personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing.Based in North Charlesto, South Carolina. A credit union — owned by its members rather than by shareholders, which is exactly what changes the conversation after a bank has said no.
BEST FORA personal loan, or building a credit file from nothing, and buying, repairing or refinancing a home.Everything below is set by South Carolina, and it reads the same in every county in it. The 17 marks above are this county's own doors — who opens one is decided by them, not by the state.
The rules where you are.
None of this is set by a lender. South Carolina sets it, and it applies the same in every county in the state — which is why it is worth knowing before you knock on any of the doors above.
- STATE INCOME TAX0% – 6.2%
What the state takes off what you earn, before anyone works out what payment you can carry.
- SALES TAX6.0% state · 1.5% avg local
What you pay on top of every purchase. On a small loan for a repair or a tool, this is a real part of the total.
- MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME$64K
Half the households in the state earn less than this. A lot of the programs above use that number to decide who qualifies.
- COST OF LIVING95.3
National index, where 100 is the country's average. Under 100 means your money goes further here.
Sources: Tax Foundation 2025 · Census ACS 5-year 2023 · BEA/MERIC COLI 2024 · Zillow 2026-Q1. As of 2026-04.
The short version.
- 01
17 doors sit inside the Richland County line. They are up the page, by name and by town — and none of them paid to be there.
- 02
6 of them are certified by the U.S. Treasury as CDFIs. Lending where a bank will not is their mandate, not a favour.
- 03
This page did not ask you for a name, an email, or a number, and nothing on it changes based on who you are.
- 04
36 of South Carolina's 46 counties hold a door in this lane. If Richland County does not have the one you need, the whole state is one click away.
Same county, another question.
Business FinancingLoans, lines of credit, and capital for small businesses and contractorsSEE IT IN RICHLAND COUNTY →
Home FinancingPurchase, renovation, HELOC, and bridge loans for homeowners and investorsSEE IT IN RICHLAND COUNTY →36SC COUNTIES WITH DOORSThe whole stateEvery county in South Carolina, in this same lane.53 institutions fund personal borrowing inside South Carolina county lines.OPEN THE STATE →Still don't see your situation?
Ask Iris. She'll explain it the way it should have been explained the first time.