VIGA is an incubation program of UMANO,
a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation
Apply For
Zero-Interest Emergency Loans
The only emergency loan in America: free to the worker, free to the employer, funded by donors, repaid by payroll. Built on a charitable lending tradition more than a century old.
VIGA provides zero-interest emergency loans to working people facing sudden crises — vet bills, emergency travel, medical co-pays, urgent repairs. No banks. No interest. Just dignity. Repaid in small installments through your regular paycheck.
Get Started - Apply In Minutes
Tell us what you need and why. A real person reviews every application — not an algorithm. Your purpose is held in strict confidence.
Employment Verified, Funds Approved
We confirm your active employment with your payroll-partner employer. Once verified, funds are approved within 72 hours. No bank account required — disbursement options available.
Repay Through Payroll
Small, automatic deductions from each paycheck — agreed upon upfront. Your employer handles the mechanics. You handle your life. Just add small automatic deductions with zero interest from each paycheck
Pet-Well-Soon
When you're facing a vet bill you can't cover all at once, money shouldn't decide whether your best friend gets care. A zero-interest loan of $500–$1,499, paid straight to your vet, repaid in small amounts through your paycheck.
How it works
Decisions follow objective, need-based criteria set and overseen by an independent committee, applied consistently to every applicant, so a clear case is reviewed quickly and the same way for everyone. You'll upload your vet's original written estimate so the loan is tied to a specific, verified bill. Funds are released to your vet only after your employer verifies your current employment (no termination or resignation notice in effect, and at least ~4 months of foreseeable employment) and accepts the deduction memorandum you've signed. If your employer is already enrolled, this can move quickly; if not, enrollment comes first.
Run a veterinary clinic? Cover your own team.
Veterinary practices are the heart of Pet-Well-Soon — and your own staff deserve the same safety net. Enroll your clinic so your team can access zero-interest emergency help, at no cost to you.
Enroll your clinic →Your employer needs to be enrolled — and verifies before we pay
Repayments come from your paycheck, so your employer must be enrolled. Before funds release, they verify your current employment and accept the deduction memorandum you've signed. They see the amount, but never learn why you applied — your reason stays private. Not enrolled yet? Send them the sign-up link and you'll be ready when you need it.
Love animals? Help fund the next rescue.
petwellsoon.org · powered by viga.org — applications and loans are administered by VIGA / Umano.
Program details
A zero-interest loan of $500–$1,499 for an urgent bill, paid directly to your provider and repaid in small amounts through payroll. Here's exactly how it's priced and decided.
How we decide
Eligibility is based on need, not a credit score. Decisions follow objective, need-based criteria set and overseen by an independent committee and applied consistently to every applicant, so a clear case is reviewed quickly and the same way for everyone. You'll upload your original written estimate, invoice, or notice (for example a vet estimate, repair estimate, or rent-due notice) so the loan is tied to a specific, verified bill. We run a soft credit check (no impact to your score) only to set an affordable per-paycheck amount — never as a pass/fail credit gate.
0% interest — and what "APR" means here
The loan carries zero interest. You repay the principal plus one disclosed, one-time administrative fee — nothing more. Lending law still requires the cost to be expressed as an APR (annual percentage rate). Because the fee is a real cost of borrowing, the APR on your disclosure will be a small number above 0% even though no interest is charged — it's simply the fee translated into the standardized APR format so you can compare it to any other loan.
The administrative fee: 7% or $90, whichever is less
A single, one-time fee helps cover the cost of running the program. For a first loan it is the lesser of 7% of the loan or $90, the maximum allowed under California Financial Code §22066 for nonprofit zero-interest loans. Repeat loans carry a lower cap. No recurring fees, no interest, no penalty charges.
The fee is shown in exact dollars before you accept. Reference: Cal. Fin. Code §22066 (subject to counsel review).
What repayment looks like
Semi-monthly payroll (paid 1st & 15th). Loans under $1,000 repay over 90 days; $1,000 and above over 120 days. Repayment begins on your 2nd payroll after your provider is paid. First-loan fees shown.
| Loan | Fee | Total | Term | Per paycheck |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | $35.00 | $535.00 | 90 days | $89.17 ×6 |
| $750 | $52.50 | $802.50 | 90 days | $133.75 ×6 |
| $1,000 | $70.00 | $1,070.00 | 120 days | $133.75 ×8 |
| $1,250 | $87.50 | $1,337.50 | 120 days | $167.19 ×8 |
| $1,499 | $90.00 | $1,589.00 | 120 days | $198.62 ×8 |
Illustrative, first-loan fees, rounded. At $1,499 the fee hits the $90 cap (7% would be $104.93). Your exact amounts are shown before you accept.
On-time payments are reported to a consumer reporting agency, which can help build your credit. Genuine hardship pauses repayment; we never sell debt, use collection agencies, or sue. Full terms in your loan agreement.
administered by VIGA / Umano 501(c)(3). Final terms disclosed before you accept.
How the money moves
From your application and estimate, through your employer's verification and your signed deduction memo, to your provider being paid directly — then gentle repayment from your paycheck.
1. Apply, upload your estimate & get a decision
Apply and upload your original written estimate, invoice, or notice, so the loan is tied to a specific, verified bill. Decisions follow objective, need-based criteria set and overseen by an independent committee and applied consistently to every applicant, so a clear case is reviewed quickly and the same way for everyone. A soft credit check (no score impact) helps set an affordable per-paycheck amount; it is not a pass/fail credit gate.
2. Employer verification & your signed deduction memo
Before any money is released, your employer must:
- verify your current employment — with no termination or resignation notice in effect, and at least ~4 months of foreseeable employment;
- accept the deduction memorandum you have signed, authorizing the payroll repayment.
Nothing is paid until both are complete. Your employer sees the amount and the repayment schedule, but never the reason you applied. If your employer is already enrolled, this can move quickly; if not, enrollment comes first.
3. We pay your provider directly
Once verification and your signed memo are in place, we pay your provider directly — your vet clinic, repair shop, landlord, or other provider named on your estimate — so the money goes straight to the need. Funds are never sent to you as cash; they go to the provider on your bill.
4. You stay in control
The deduction is yours to authorize and yours to stop. Your employer only forwards it. If you hit genuine hardship, repayment pauses — the program supports you, it doesn't pursue you. (Hardship terms in your agreement.)
Repayment timing
Repayment begins on your 2nd payroll after your provider is paid — a cushion before the first deduction. Payments are equal, at 0% interest, on the 1st and 15th.
Your employer must be enrolled
So repayments can run through payroll, and so they can verify your employment and accept your signed deduction memo before funds release. They see the amount, never the reason. Not enrolled yet? Apply anyway, and we'll help you send them the sign-up link.
administered by VIGA / Umano 501(c)(3). Timing illustrative; exact dates in your agreement.
Give your team a financial safety net — at no cost to you
Your employees get access to zero-interest emergency loans. You verify employment, accept their signed deduction memo, and forward repayment through payroll. You don't fund it and don't approve loans — and you never learn why anyone borrowed.
How enrollment works
Integrates with your payroll system
Don't see yours? We support most major payroll platforms and a simple manual deduction file for any system.
What you see in your dashboard
Why there's no benefit-plan burden: VIGA is an independent charity. You don't establish, fund, or administer it — you verify employment and forward a repayment your employee has authorized, like any voluntary deduction. No ERISA plan, no fiduciary duty, no exposure for loan decisions or outcomes. (Subject to counsel review.)
viga.org · a program of Umano 501(c)(3). Final terms, integration steps, and agreements provided during enrollment and subject to counsel review.
Leading With Dignity
Be the Employer Who Stands in the Gap.
Financial emergencies don’t wait for payday. VIGA partners with employers to offer zero-interest emergency loans — no credit checks, no collateral, no interest, ever. Repaid quietly through work. You carry no financial risk. You simply help one of your people find a better door than the one payday lending offers. That is the whole of it.
A $2,500 emergency can cost you nothing extra with VIGA — or thousands of dollars in interest to a predatory lender, a high-interest credit card, or worst of all, a payday loan. Most people in a tough spot just grab whatever is available and hope for the best. We understand that. It is just that we want you to see the truth before you decide. See the Full Comparison
$0
Interest Charged
Always
72 hrs
Typical Approval Time
After Verification
$500–$1,499
Loan Range Available
No Collateral
Honestly
If it sounds too good, you’re right to ask.
We are not offended by suspicion. The lending industry has earned every bit of it. These are the questions we hear most often — from working people, from employers, from donors — and the honest answers.
“What’s the catch?”
There is no catch. You repay the loan amount plus one disclosed, one-time administrative fee (the lesser of 7% or $90 — the maximum allowed for nonprofit zero-interest loans under California law). No interest, ever. No recurring fees, no penalties. The exact dollar amount is shown before you accept.
“What’s in it for you?”
VIGA is operated as a charitable program of Umanoorg, a 501(c)(3) public charity. No one earns interest on a loan. No one earns a commission for signing anyone up. The founder serves without pay. The small team is paid modestly to run the program with care. The reason this exists is not financial.
“How do you stay open if you don’t charge interest?”
Two ways. First, the same dollar lends again and again — when one person repays, that money funds the next loan. Second, VIGA is supported by donors and civic-minded organizations who believe a working person should not be broken by a single bad week. This is a 130-year-old American charitable model — quietly working, family after family.
“Is this really legal?”
VIGA operates under California’s nonprofit lending exemption (Cal. Fin. Code §22066). A formal legal opinion is being finalized with outside California counsel, and the payroll deduction framework is documented under a separate legal memorandum.
Nothing about VIGA should surprise you later. That is the promise.
How VIGA Sustains Itself
Funded by Generosity. Replenished by Dignity.
VIGA does not charge interest. So how does the loan pool stay full? Two ways — and the second one is the one that changes lives twice.
Individuals, foundations, and socially conscious organizations contribute to the VIGA loan pool. Every dollar donated becomes a dollar available to the next person in a waiting room.
Donations are tax-deductible under UMANO's 501(c)(3) status. The one-time administrative fee covers program operations — so donated dollars go to lending, and every repayment returns to the loan pool.
Every loan repaid through payroll returns to the lending pool, ready to support the next person facing an emergency. The same dollar that held up one family on its worst week holds up another, then another — for as long as VIGA exists. That recycling is what lets a small fund hold up many lives. It is not financial efficiency. It is mercy, made structural.
Somewhere, a person is standing at the same door you once stood at. The dollar you returned is the one that opens it for them.
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