Cleo AI Refunds: 2.1 Million Customers to Receive a Share of the $15.8M Payout

The Federal Trade Commission has started returning more than $15.8 million (about £11.9 million) to around 2.1 million customers of Cleo AI, the cash advance app that regulators say overstated how much money users could get and how quickly it would reach them.

The agency said it will send 2,124,796 payments through PayPal, beginning on 27 October 2026.

Everyone due a refund paid Cleo for an instant cash advance, and those customers are being notified by email between 8 October and 26 October. Recipients then have 30 days to accept the money once it arrives.

All the recipients are US customers who paid Cleo for instant cash advances. Divided among more than two million people, the fund works out to roughly $7 each, or about £5 at current exchange rates. The FTC has not fixed an amount per person, so individual totals will vary.

Customers do not need to file a claim. The agency said it identified eligible recipients from Cleo's own records and is contacting them directly, so simply downloading the app or holding a subscription does not qualify someone. Those who are owed money will be paid through PayPal rather than by cheque or bank transfer.

The FTC Allegations Against Cleo AI

The payout stems from a case the FTC brought in March 2025 in Manhattan federal court. In its complaint, the agency alleged that Cleo advertised access to hundreds of dollars in advances, and in some adverts up to $250 (about £189), while almost no customer received anything close to those figures.

The complaint also said the company charged an express fee of about $3.99 (roughly £3) for same-day transfers that frequently did not land until the next day. Many customers, regulators said, only learned how much they could actually borrow after subscribing to a paid plan and handing over their billing details.

Cancelling was difficult, too. Users who still owed money on an advance were told they could not cancel until the balance was cleared, the FTC said, so monthly fees kept leaving their accounts in the meantime.

Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said when the case was filed that customers received far less than advertised, paid extra for faster delivery, and then struggled to cancel. He said Cleo 'misled consumers with promises of fast money.'

To settle, Cleo agreed to pay $17 million (about £12.9 million) and accepted a consent order that runs for 10 years. The order also requires the company to describe its advances clearly, get a customer's consent before charging for a subscription, and make cancelling straightforward. The FTC did not say why the amount now being refunded is lower than the full settlement figure.

Cleo denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to the deal. The company's general counsel, Colin Jones, said the agency's claims were 'inaccurate and reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of our business.' He said settling let the company keep its focus on its US customers.

Cleo was founded in London in 2016 by Barney Hussey-Yeo, a machine-learning graduate and former Wonga data scientist. The app built its name on a chatbot that tracks spending and prompts users about their budgets, and it later moved its focus to the United States, which now accounts for the bulk of its millions of users. Most of its money comes from paid subscriptions that bundle features such as cash advances and credit-building tools.

How the Cleo AI Payout Reaches Customers

Payments are being handled by Rust Consulting, the refund administrator, which can be reached at 1-877-788-4958. Notification emails come from the address [email protected]. The FTC said it never asks people to pay a fee, or to hand over bank or account details to receive a refund.

Regulators urged customers to watch for scammers who tend to surface around high-profile refunds, including fraudsters posing as the FTC or sending fake PayPal messages. Anyone who demands payment to release a refund is running a scam, the agency said. The Cleo payout adds to more than $435 million (about £329 million) the FTC returned to consumers across the country during 2025.