Happy Money Personal Loans Review December 2024

Who are Happy Money personal loans best for?

The borrowers best suited for Happy Money personal loans are those trying to consolidate and pay off credit card debt.

Best for consolidating credit card debt

The Payoff Loan, Happy Money's signature offering, provides borrowers a lump-sum personal loan that can be used to pay off credit cards and other debt. You can choose to have your loan deposited into your bank account or sent directly to your creditors

Happy Money offers lower rates than the average credit card interest rate, which is 21.76%, according to the Federal Reserve. It also offers lower rates than most of its competitors. On the downside, the loans come with origination fees and may be less accessible to some less qualified borrowers. Loans are not available in Iowa, Massachusetts, or Nevada.

Great for low APRs for debt consolidation

When you compare personal loan lenders, you'll see that many have maximum APRs as high as 35.99%. Happy Money stands out from the pack with a max APR under 20%. However, you'll need a FICO score of 640 or higher to qualify.

Pros and cons of Happy Money personal loans

Happy Money's The Payoff Loan has advantages for borrowers specifically looking to take care of their credit card debt. However, its limits on eligibility, term length, and loan amount may not be suitable for borrowers with extreme credit card debt.

How to qualify for a Happy Money personal loan

Happy Money encourages potential borrowers to get preapproved and see their potential rate in a matter of minutes. The company offers a breakdown of the factors it might evaluate, which include:

• Credit score, ideally 640 or higher
• Current delinquencies, ideally zero
• Debt-to-income ratio
• Age of credit history
• Open and satisfactory trades
• Credit utilization

Credit score and financial history

Your credit history is one of the most important elements of your financial identity, as it's used by lenders to anticipate how likely you are to make payments on a loan. You should have a credit score of 640 or higher to get approved for a Happy Money loan and, ideally, no current delinquencies on your report.

Income and employment

Happy Money puts a strong focus on borrower credit scores and delinquencies, but those aren't the only factors it assesses for borrower eligibility. Other aspects that affect approval include your income. Happy Money has a minimum annual income requirement of $25,000 when you apply via Credible's site.

Happy Money will evaluate your debt-to-income ratio, the age of your credit history, the utilization of your available credit, and any open lines of credit (such as auto loans or mortgage loans you've made consistent, on-time payments for).

Happy Money personal loan purposes

The Payoff Loan is specifically designed to help you pay off credit card or other debt. Although The Payoff Loan is Happy Money's specialty product, the company website says, "We may be able to assist with certain personal unsecured installment loans as well." An online agent confirmed that the Payoff Loan can be used for any personal, family, or household purpose.

Happy Money personal loan fees and penalties

Happy Money doesn't charge some of the typical fees that other lenders routinely charge.

Loan origination fees

Loan origination fee amounts will vary based on factors like the quality of your credit, loan amount, and loan term. Origination fees range from 1.5% to 5.5%.

Early repayment penalties

Happy Money does not have any prepayment fees or penalties.

Other fees

Happy Money does not charge any late fees, bounced check fees, or failed ACH fees.

How Happy Money compares to other lenders

How Happy Money compares to more lenders: The best personal loans

What to consider when consolidating debt

If you want to pay off debt, the next step is to review your current credit card or other debt accounts. Make a list, including your outstanding balances, monthly payment amounts, and current APRs. Then, use a credit card interest calculator to calculate how long it will take to pay off each card and how much each will cost you in interest.

For example:

With the above information, you can figure out the total loan amount you need, along with the APR, term, monthly payment amount, and overall cost you want to beat. Then, you'll be ready to start shopping for a loan. Check your rate with Happy Money and other lenders and look for the best overall value in terms of cost and service quality.

How to contact Happy Money

Happy Money has a live chat button located at the bottom right corner of each screen, allowing you to first speak with a chatbot that will then connect you to a live agent.

You can also contact Happy Money directly by phone or email. Agents are available via phone Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:30 pm ET at 1-800-878-0901. You can also email [email protected].

Before contacting Happy Money by email or phone, keep in mind that it does have a self-service help center. The help center has prompts in the form of frequently asked questions which link to relevant articles. You can also peruse articles based on account, lender, loan, and security topics.

About Happy Money personal loans

Happy Money works with lenders to offer borrowers competitive rates and terms for paying off credit card debt and for other loan purposes. This simplistic offering streamlines the borrowing and pay-off process. With only an origination fee charged, borrowers can use The Payoff Loan to potentially pay less on the overall lifetime of their loan while also having an opportunity to boost their FICO credit score.

Rating Happy Money personal loans

Credible evaluated 30 lenders and over 800 data points to find the best personal loans and lenders. Our team of experts considered internal proprietary data, including prequalification rates by lender, credit score minimums, and approved loans purposes. We also gathered information from each lender's website, customer service department, directly from our partners, and via email support. We chose the best lenders based on the following weighted categories:

• Rates and fees: 18%
• Loan terms: 18%
• Customer experience: 17%
• Eligibility: 14%
• Customer satisfaction: 10%
• Efficiency: 10%
• Options for poor credit and no credit: 9%
• Discounts: 4%

Each data point was sourced and verified by a senior editor to make sure it was accurate and up to date. Learn more about how Credible rates lenders by exploring our personal loans lender rating methodology.