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Happy Money Personal Loans Review (October 2024)

Happy Money offers competitive credit card consolidation loans up to $40,000 to qualifying applicants.

Author
By Jessica Walrack

Written by

Jessica Walrack

Writer

Jessica Walrack is a freelance finance writer and journalist with over a decade of experience. During that time, she’s written hundreds of articles about loans, insurance, banking, mortgages, credit cards, budgeting, and taxes for well-known publications including CBS News MoneyWatch, USA Today, US News and World, Investopedia, and The Balance Money.

Edited by Hannah Smith

Written by

Hannah Smith

Editor

Hannah Smith is a financial services editor specializing in personal loans. With a keen eye for detail, Hannah has honed her skills in editing financial content to ensure accuracy, compliance, and reader engagement. Since 2019, she’s helped steer content creation in the areas of student and auto loans, and credit cards for major finance verticals, including Credible, and Bankrate.

Updated October 1, 2024

Editorial disclosure: Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances. Although we receive compensation from our partner lenders, whom we will always identify, all opinions are our own. Credible Operations, Inc. NMLS # 1681276, is referred to here as “Credible.”

Featured

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. Upon approval, the loan amount is either sent to your bank account or credit card company or companies. From there, you would pay off your debts (if the money was sent to your account) and make fixed monthly loan payments to Happy Money until your balance is repaid. Happy Money offers lower rates than the average interest rate on credit card accounts, which is 21.59%, according to the Federal Reserve

On the downside, the loans come with origination fees and may be inaccessible to some credit-challenged borrowers. Loans are not available in Massachusetts and Nevada.

Great for low APRs for debt consolidation

When comparing personal loan lenders, many have average maximum APRs ranging from 24.51% to 35.99%. Happy Money stands out from the pack with a max APR of just 17.99%. A lower rate can come in handy if you're looking to refinance credit card debt and save money. However, lower APRs typically mean stricter eligibility requirements, like needing a score in the high-fair-credit range (a FICO score of 640 or higher) and meeting a certain income threshold, which can make it harder to get approved.

Best for consolidating credit card debt

Happy Money

3.9

Credible Rating

Check Rates

on Credible’s website

Est. APR

11.72 - 17.99%

Loan Amount

$5,000 to $40,000

Min. Credit Score

640

Pros and cons

More details

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Note

If approved, you will see a hard credit inquiry on your credit report at the time you receive the loan, which can temporarily ding your credit for up to a year.

What to consider before applying

Before applying for a Happy Money loan, you'll first want to consider why you need the money. If it's for anything other than paying off credit card debt, you'll need to look elsewhere.

However, if you want to pay off credit card debt, the next step is to review your current credit card accounts. Make a list of all of your cards, 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:

Outstanding balance
APR
Monthly payment amount
Payoff time
Interest charges
Credit card 1
$500
20%
$35
17 months
$66
Credit card 2
$1,500
30%
$50
54 months
$1,199
Credit card 3
$950
30%
$45
30 months
$376
Totals
$2,950 total owed
26.70% average APR
$130 total per month
54 months until all are paid off
$1,641 total cost

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 qualify for a loan with Happy Money

  • Credit utilization: The percentage of total credit used from the total credit available to you is important. The higher your percentage, the lower your chance of approval. Lenders typically prefer that you use no more than 30%. Going over your credit limit may also impact your ability to qualify.
  • FICO score: Happy Money states on its website that its minimum FICO score requirement is 640. The lender will consider your score as one of the factors in its approval decision. The lower your score, the lower your chance of approval.
  • No delinquencies: If you've missed credit payments or have any accounts that have gone into default, it can hurt your chances of approval.
  • Credit history age: The length of your credit history is also a factor. The longer your credit history, the better.
  • Debt-to-income ratio (DTI): The amount of debt you have and the percentage of your income it consumes each month is another factor. Lower DTI ratios are preferred, usually less than 36%.
  • Current lines of credit: It helps to have multiple lines of credit open and in good standing.

While the company shares the factors it weighs when making approval decisions, it doesn't have many hard guidelines. As a result, the best way to find out if you qualify is to request a quote on the lender's website or via the form below.

How to apply for a loan with Happy Money

  1. Visit the Happy Money website at https://happymoney.com/ or via the form below.
  2. Click "Check my rate."
  3. Enter your name, birth date, ZIP code, address, and phone number.
  4. Provide your annual income.
  5. Enter your monthly housing payment.
  6. Enter your email and password to create an account.
  7. Agree to the terms and conditions.
  8. Select the loan amount you want.
  9. Find out if you're prequalified.

If you prequalify, Happy Money will show you an estimate of the loan amount, rates, fees, and terms you can get. Prequalification is not an offer of credit, and rates may vary once you officially apply. If all looks good, you can move forward with the full application. This requires a hard credit check, which will temporarily affect your credit score.

How to contact Happy Money

You can reach the company by:

  • Phone: 1-800-878-0901 to connect with a U.S.-based support team
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Live chat: When you visit the website, there's a live chat icon in the bottom right corner. The conversation starts with a bot but you can request to speak with an agent.

The support team is available Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (PT).

How Happy Money compares

Happy Money is a niche lender that specializes in credit card consolidation loans with a lower-than-average maximum APR, and a moderate maximum loan amount. Many other lenders allow you to use their personal loans for a wider range of purposes, like home renovations or weddings, and have higher max APRs - up to 35.99%. As for the maximum loan amounts, they vary widely from lender to lender, but there are some that offer up to $100,000 or more.

For example, Upgrade offers loans up to $50,000, APRs up to 35.99%, and allows for a variety of loan uses (such as funding home improvements and debt consolidation). Another lender, LightStream, specializes in lending to borrowers with good to excellent credit (FICO scores of 700 or higher). Like Upgrade, it allows you to use the loan funds for a wide range of purposes. However, unlike Upgrade, it offers loans up to $100,000, and a max APR of 25.49%.

If you have good credit and need to borrow more than Happy Money offers, LightStream could be a good alternative. On the other hand, if you have bad credit and are having trouble getting approved with Happy Money, you may have better luck with Upgrade or other bad-credit lenders.

Credible rating

APR from11.72 - 17.99%
Loan Amount$5000 to $40000
Term Length2 - 5
Min. Credit Score640

Credible rating

APR from9.99 - 35.99%
Loan Amount$1000 to $50000
Term Length2 - 7
Min. Credit Score600
Read Our Review

Credible rating

APR from6.99 - 25.29%
Loan Amount$5000 to $100000
Term Length2 - 7
Min. Credit Score700
Read Our Review

Methodology

Credible evaluated personal loan lenders based on factors such as customer experience, minimum fixed rate, maximum loan amount, funding time, loan terms, and fees. Credible's team of experts gathered information from each lender's website, customer service department, in-house resources, and via email support. Each data point was verified to make sure it was accurate at the time of publication.

Learn more about how Credible rates lenders by exploring our Personal Loans Lender Rating Methodology.

FAQ

Is Happy Money a reputable company?

Happy Money is a reputable company. Since 2017, when Payoff.com rebranded to Happy Money, the lender has helped over 300,000 members with over $6 billion in personal loans. It's also accredited by the Better Business Bureau and has an A+ rating.

Is it difficult to get a Happy Money personal loan?

Happy Money's application process is streamlined and easy to complete, but it's not necessarily easy to qualify. You will need to meet the lender's minimum requirements and may be denied for a variety of reasons, such as having too many maxed-out credit cards or missed payments.

How long does it take for Happy Money to review a personal loan?

Happy Money typically provides prequalification decisions within two minutes.

Does a Happy Money loan hurt your credit?

While you may see an initial dip, Happy Money loans have a track record of helping borrowers improve their credit scores. In fact, most members see their scores increase by an average of 40 points within four months.

Meet the expert:
Jessica Walrack

Jessica Walrack is a freelance finance writer and journalist with over a decade of experience. During that time, she’s written hundreds of articles about loans, insurance, banking, mortgages, credit cards, budgeting, and taxes for well-known publications including CBS News MoneyWatch, USA Today, US News and World, Investopedia, and The Balance Money.