Happy Money Personal Loans 2024 Review | The Motley Fool (2024)

Top perks

Low APRs: Happy Money's APRs are among the lowest personal loan rates. It's likely to be much lower than the interest rate on your credit card. Happy Money is able to keep its interest rates low by accepting highly qualified borrowers and thus minimizing risk to itself. Happy Money requires borrowers to have a higher FICO® Score than many other lenders, as well as a lower debt-to-income ratio than other lenders.

Long loan terms: Happy Money's loan terms range from 24 to 60 months. Borrowers can pick a repayment term that is long enough to give them some breathing room in their budgets. The longer the loan term, the lower the monthly payment but the more interest you pay overall. The shorter the loan term, the less a consumer ends up paying in interest.

No hidden fees: Happy Money only charges one fee: An origination fee of between 0% and 5% of the loan amount. In fact, it's eliminated fees that some other lenders cling to, like late fees, prepayment fees, and returned check fees.

Free FICO® Scores: If you accept a loan from Happy Money, you'll get access to a free FICO® Score that updates once per month. Access to your FICO® Score is valuable, as it allows you to keep track of the three-digit number used by lenders to determine your creditworthiness. As you pay down credit card debt, you'll likely see an improvement in your score as you'll lower your credit utilization ratio. Many free credit scores you find online are just simulations or approximations of your true credit score.

Get a quote without harming your credit score: While this feature isn't unique to Happy Money, it is invaluable. Happy Money will give you a quote for a loan by doing a soft credit check, which won't hurt your credit. Happy Money will only carry out a hard credit check if you decide to move ahead with the loan. This enables you to shop around for a low rate without having multiple inquiries weigh down your credit score.

Large loan amounts: A Happy Money loan can range in size from $5,000 to $40,000, which makes it a great one-stop shop for people looking for loans for debt consolidation.

What could be improved

APR range: The upper range of a Happy Money loan interest rate is in line with the APRs charged by many credit cards -- though credit card interest can add up a lot faster, as you don't have a fixed payment plan.

Minimum loan amount: With a minimum loan amount of $5,000, a Happy Money loan is not the right fit for someone looking to borrow a smaller amount.

Happy Money is very clear about the types of borrowers who are likely to get approved for one of its personal loans. Here are the basic Happy Money requirements:

• Credit score of at least 640
• Healthy debt-to-income (DTI) ratio (under 50%)
• Three years or more of good credit history
• No more than one outstanding installment loan
• No current delinquencies and no delinquencies greater than 90 days in the past 12 months

Application process

The personal loan application process with Happy Money is simple. It works like this:

• Fill out an online form and find out what your interest rate will be. Because it's a soft credit check, it does not impact your credit score.
• If you're happy with the interest rate, select the offer that works best for you -- including how long you want to take to repay the loan -- and finish your application.
• Review the terms, verify your information, and electronically sign the loan documents.
• Funds are electronically deposited into your account.

• You want to pay off credit card debt. Happy Money is solely interested in borrowers who want to use their loans for debt consolidation.
• You need more time to pay off your balances. Happy Money personal loans are designed for people who need more than two years to pay off high-interest debt. If you have a modest amount of debt that you can repay over the course of a year, a balance transfer card may be a better solution. The best balance transfer cards offer a 0% intro APR for 12 to 18 months.
• You have a relatively high credit score and a reasonable DTI. Happy Money generally requires a FICO® Score of 640 or higher and a debt-to-income ratio of 50% or less. It is not designed for people who have a lot of late payments or other major negative marks on their credit reports.