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Happy Money Named Best Lender for Paying Down Credit Cards by U.S. News & World Report

Recognized for empowering over 300,000 individuals to tackle high-interest credit card debt through responsible lending

Happy Money, a leading consumer finance company, has been named a winner in the 2025 Money Awards by U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in rankings and consumer advice. The company was recognized as the “Best Lender for Paying Down Credit Cards.”

Americans currently carry over $1 trillion in credit card debt, with average interest rates exceeding 20%, causing a significant burden to many middle-market consumers. Juggling multiple high-interest credit cards has become not just a source of stress, but a roadblock to long-term financial stability. Happy Money is addressing this challenge head on with its fully digital lending platform that provides personal loans in partnership with mission-aligned financial institutions that help consumers pay off credit card debt faster and at a lower cost. To date, Happy Money has originated over $6 billion in personal loans, empowering more than 300,000 individuals nationwide to take greater control of their financial futures. 

“At a time when so many are burdened by revolving high-interest credit card debt, our mission at Happy Money has never been more critical,” said Matt Tomko, Chief Revenue Officer of Happy Money. “Being recognized by U.S. News & World Report is a testament to the real impact we have had on the lives of over 300,000 Americans as we help them reduce their debt more quickly and achieve their financial goals.”

“The 2025 Money Awards recognize exceptional institutions and products, while also providing consumers with informed insights on financial institutions that can best support their unique financial needs and goals,” said Adriana Ocañas, consumer credit cards analyst at U.S. News.
U.S. News determined the winning companies using comprehensive, data-driven methodologies including factors specific to their respective categories. Learn more about the 2025 Money Awards here.

Happy Money is a consumer finance company that empowers people to achieve their goals through responsible lending. With its fully digital platform, Happy Money partners with credit unions, banks and asset managers to originate high-quality loans, unlocking balance sheet diversification and scale. 

Backed by leading investors like TruStage Ventures, Happy Money provides a turnkey acquisition, underwriting and originations channel for financial institutions to grow as a force for good in their communities. Together with their capital partner network, Happy Money has originated over $6 billion in loans representing more than 300,000 individuals who have taken greater control of their financial futures. Learn more at happymoney.com.

U.S. News & World Report is the global leader for journalism that empowers consumers, citizens, business leaders and policy officials to make confident decisions in all aspects of their lives and communities. A multifaceted media company, U.S. News provides unbiased rankings, independent reporting and analysis, and consumer advice to millions of people on USNews.com each month. A pillar in Washington for more than 90 years, U.S. News is the trusted home for in-depth and exclusive insights on education, health, politics, the economy, personal finance, travel, automobiles, real estate, careers and consumer products and services.

Anjali Kumar, Rosie O’Neill and Donna Wells Bring Revolutionary Social Innovation, Consumer Marketing and FinTech Experience to Happy Money

COSTA MESA, Calif.-- Happy Money, the only financial company innovating at the intersection of psychology and money, today announced the appointment of three new women to their Board of Directors: Anjali Kumar, Rosie O’Neill and Donna Wells.

“We are honored to have such an accomplished group of leaders join our Board,” said Scott Saunders, Founder and CEO of Happy Money. “Today’s financial services providers are not delivering financial products and experiences that cater to people’s happiness. The appointment of our new industry-disrupting Directors will enhance our unconventional approach to finance, and we see them as a driving force supporting Happy Money’s innovation at the intersection of psychology and money to help people live happier lives.”

Anjali currently serves as Chief People Officer and General Counsel for Cheddar, the financial news network live-streamed from the New York Stock Exchange. Kumar was formerly the Head of Social Innovation and Founding General Counsel at Warby Parker and prior to that served as Senior Counsel at Google. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of GloScience Professional, Amplifier, Edible Schoolyard NY and GrowNYC, and has been an advisor to the Malala Fund, IDEO.org and Organize.org. Kumar is currently an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School and will release her first book, Stalking God: My Unorthodox Search for Something To Believe In, on January 16, 2018.

Rosie is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique featuring a collection of artisan sweets from around the globe. Named to Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People” list and Goldman Sachs "100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs," O’Neill and her team are disrupting the $200B confections space with an innovative approach to product and retail. Prior to Sugarfina, O’Neill served for seven years as Director of Marketing for Barbie at Mattel where she led a $600M global business unit that sold more than 50 million Barbie dolls annually.

Donna is a successful serial entrepreneur, an experienced Public and Private Board Director and an innovator in the financial services, FinTech and cloud software industries. Most recently, she served as the President, CEO and Board Director of Mindflash.com, a leading platform for online training. Prior to Mindflash, Wells had a nearly 20-year career in the financial services industry including serving as the CMO of Mint.com from product launch to company acquisition, as well as senior marketing roles at both American Express and Intuit. Wells’ teams’ work has won multiple Webbys and recognition as a Tech Pioneer by the World Economic Forum in Davos. She has been named a Top 25 Women in Tech to Watch by Accenture and a Marketing Executive of the Year Finalist by the Wall Street Journal. Wells currently serves on the Board of Directors of Boston Private Bank and the Board of Advisors of Mitek Systems.

In addition to Kumar, O’Neill and Wells, Happy Money’s existing board members include Bob Allison, founder of Innovate Partners; Joe Saunders, former CEO of Visa; Matt Wilson, former CFO of Happy Money; and Sean Park, founder of Anthemis Group.

Happy Money is the only financial company that combines psychology and money to help people live happier lives. Happy Money believes in long-term relationships with people, meeting them at every stage of their financial life, and maximizing their happiness along the way. Happy Money is composed of financial services professionals, research and clinical psychologists, data scientists, neuroscientists, designers, and technology experts, all working together to provide three primary experiences: Joy, Payoff and the Happy Money Score.

PR Newswire: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180110005315/en/Happy-Money-Appoints-New-Powerhouse-Board-Members

Happy Money Appoints Three New Powerhouse Board Members

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As American households face the uncertainty of the current volatile financial climate, more than ever it is crucial that Americans change their relationship with their money. Happy Money®, a fintech building financial tools and services for human happiness, is a different kind of company that is committed to its mission of helping borrowers become savers. As a part of its journey, Happy Money has named Jeff Winner as its Chief Technology Officer. Jeff joins Happy Money and its leadership team to further develop the suite of financial tools, and continue the firm’s commitment to improving members’ lives through human and innovative technology.

“Not only that, but we’re taking a unique approach to product development, leveraging behavioral science in a way that can shift the financial services paradigm to unlock mindful capitalism to improve people’s lives.”

“Throughout every stage of our growth, our mission has remained at the core of everything we do. Jeff is an exciting addition to our team and will be an important part of our future. There are many reasons why Jeff is a good fit for us, the most important being that he believes in our mission and has the insight and ability to help bring more of our vision to life,” said Scott Saunders, CEO and Founder of Happy Money. “Jeff has built an impactful industry reputation as a leading expert in financial technologies. With the new normal of remote working environments and a reinforced digital-first focus, having a Chief Technology Officer of his caliber will help Happy Money continue our design and build of a new financial system with the best interest of our members at its core.”

From his time at leading technology companies such as Twitter and Stripe, to his most recent experience at Goldman Sachs, Jeff has built a career that unites the benefits of Silicon Valley and Wall Street, creating a unique blend that perfectly situates him to join Happy Money. While at Goldman Sachs, Jeff served as the Chief Technology Officer for Marcus, Goldman Sachs’s Consumer Business, and led the development of the Apple Card.

“While much of my career has been working to connect ‘fin’ and ‘tech,’ what brought me to Happy Money is its mission-driven approach to the members,” said Jeff. “Not only that, but we’re taking a unique approach to product development, leveraging behavioral science in a way that can shift the financial services paradigm to unlock mindful capitalism to improve people’s lives.”

Winner joins Happy Money during a time of rapid growth, both within the firm and in its expanding ecosystem. Happy Money recently had a Series D fundraise of $70 million, led by CMFG Ventures that will be used to expand Happy Money’s offerings. Earlier this year, Happy Money also announced a strategic partnership with Teachers Federal Credit Union, which is its sixth strategic partnership with mission-aligned financial institutions.

Throughout this latest chapter of rapid growth, and entering the next chapter with Jeff Winner, Happy Money has remained laser-focused on its mission of Helping Borrowers Become Savers™.

Happy Money® is a financial technology company, delivering digitally-native financial tools and services for human happiness™ through its purpose-driven marketplace between mission-aligned capital and consumers. Happy Money is creating an alternative to the “Sad Money™” system with a connected ecosystem of consumer financial products designed to help borrowers become savers. Happy Money. A Happier Future.™

Backed by leading investors including Anthemis Group, Tencent Holdings and CMFG Ventures, Happy Money has helped over 80,000 members pay off nearly $1.5 billion in credit card debt. Founded in 2009, Happy Money has a diverse employee base of over 270 people and is based in Orange County, California. For more information, please visit www.happymoney.com.

PRESS CONTACT:
Caroline Andrews
Vested
happymoney@fullyvested.com
917 765 8720

Fintech Veteran Jeff Winner Joins The Happy Money Movement™

Happy Money is excited to announce that Joy has been selected as Apple's ever-so-coveted App of the Day.

Apple editors handpick one game and one app that "can't be missed" and deliver it fresh daily in the App Store's Today Tab. Today that pick was Joy.

As part of being App of the Day, Apple Editors provide a write-up as to why they made their selection. See everything they had to say about Joy's unique and fun approach to spending and saving.

"What if managing your finances and stashing away savings were less of a chore and more fun? That’s the question Joy poses—and answers brilliantly."
— Apple

According to Statista, as of last year, there were over 2 million apps available in the App Store, so to be handpicked as the App of the Day is an exciting accomplishment for our team and the Happy Money Movement.

Apple Features Joy as App of the Day

Joy Connects Your Spending and Saving Behavior to Happiness Without the Judgment.

COSTA MESA, Calif.-- Happy Money, the leading financial company innovating at the intersection of psychology and money to help people live happier lives, today announced the launch of Joy – a new iOS app that changes the way people think about, spend and save money through a personalized experience shaped by an individual's psychology and financial behaviors.

Joy and its team of clinical psychologists and neuroscientists recognized a person’s psychological makeup and personality directly affect how they spend and save money. They also found a void in the market — no one had created a product to address this. “Through our research, we’ve heard countless times that talking about money is overwhelming to a lot of people and financial apps out there are one-size-fits-all and naturally judgmental. Joy is the first app that doesn’t judge you, but instead embraces you for who you are and what makes YOU happy,” says Scott Saunders, founder and CEO of Happy Money.

With this new psychology-based approach to money, Joy features bespoke elements specifically designed to drive awareness of how spending is connected to happiness, and to encourage people to build savings with daily savings recommendations. “Joy puts happiness at the epicenter of spending, and for millennials, happiness is the bottom line,” says professor Elizabeth Dunn, Ph.D., Joy’s Scientific Advisor and author of Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending. “Joy provides an alternative approach to looking at how you spend. It’s not about how much money is in your account, it’s about how much happiness there is in your life.”

Personalized Money Coach: Joy delivers a person-centric experience with an undeniably approachable and non-judgmental tone. To achieve this, Joy’s scientists have developed in-app assessments that identify the user’s financial personality and assign one of four money coaches tailored to fit the specific needs of that individual. Each coach has been designed to support a growing awareness of happiness, spending and saving behavior with the goal of beneficial habit formation.

Buying More Happiness: With Joy, there is a new way to think about spending: spend more on what makes you happy and less on what makes you sad – what Joy calls, “happy spends” and “sad spends.” The app prompts users to rate purchases, helping them recognize spending habits and focus more on what brings long-term happiness.

Free Savings Account and Daily Saves: Joy helps people save more money by providing behavior-based daily savings recommendations as well as a free FDIC-insured savings account. The app identifies a daily savings amount based on income data and spending habits, then prompts the user to make that save via their Joy Savings Account. This actively enables the person to recognize daily savings opportunities and build savings, helping to decrease overall stress, increase happiness, and promote a sense of ownership over their financial future.

The Joy app is free to download for iOS. For more information, please visit www.FindJoy.com.

PR Newswire: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/happy-money-launches-joy-the-first-money-app-powered-by-psychology-300551650.html

Happy Money Launches Joy, The First Money App Powered by Psychology

Happy Money Launches as the Only Financial Company Combining Psychology and Money to Help People Live Happier Lives

COSTA MESA, Calif.-- Today, Payoff announces the launch of Happy Money, a new financial company innovating at the intersection of psychology and money with the goal of helping people live happier lives.

Happy Money is built on the premise that a person’s unique psychology is the best predictor of their financial behavior and key to improving their financial health. Combining psychological data with traditional financial data provides a more complete picture of a person. With this insight, Happy Money’s team of psychologists and neuroscientists set out to develop a more human approach to the delivery of financial products and experiences to help people live happier lives.

“Happy Money is our mission described in two words. It’s the best way to explain what we’re doing and where we’re going. Everything we do starts with people and understanding their unique psychology. We co-develop products and experiences with people, meeting them where they are to help maximize their happiness along the way,” says Scott Saunders, Founder and CEO of Happy Money. Happy Money’s products, Payoff and Joy, both follow this more human, psychology-first model and offer approachable solutions for achieving financial well-being, and ultimately, bringing people more happiness.

Payoff, the loan specifically designed to help pay off credit cards, was launched in 2015. It offers a simple, straightforward and attainable way to eliminate credit card debt. This singular focus has resulted in best-in-class portfolio performance with industry-leading low default rates and an NPS of 82. To date, Payoff has over 11,000 members and has helped people pay off over $175M of credit card debt.

Joy, a first-of-its-kind mobile app, helps people rethink the way they spend and save money through a psychology-based approach that involves rating purchases and daily saving suggestions. The app also offers people a free, FDIC-insured Joy Savings Account. Joy is set to officially launch later this month on iOS and has over 25,000 people on a waitlist to try the app.

In addition to Saunders, Happy Money’s board members include Bob Allison, founder of Innovate Partners; Joe Saunders, former CEO of Visa; Matt Wilson, former CFO of Happy Money; and Sean Park, founder of Anthemis Group.

Additional information on Happy Money can be found at www.HappyMoney.com.

BusinessWire: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171102005481/en/Meet-Happy-Money---Payoff-Unveils-New

Meet Happy Money – Payoff, Inc. Unveils New Name and Brand

Happy Money, a leading platform for unsecured lending in partnership with credit unions, today announced the appointment of Joe Heck as the company's new Chief Executive Officer. This development sets the stage for a transformative era as Happy Money innovates in new ways to deliver on its mission of providing a happier approach to lending.

Joe Heck steps into his role as CEO after four years with the company, most recently having served as Happy Money’s Chief Operating Officer. Joe has a legacy of driving innovation and transformation within the lending industry as well as years of experience working with credit unions. With his combination of grit and creativity, he is uniquely positioned to steer the company through this next season and drive the team forward to create value for Happy Money’s stakeholders, partners, and consumers alike.

“I see tremendous opportunity for Happy Money as we bring greater self-sustainability to our business and support credit unions in competing in a dynamic and increasingly digital market,” said Joe Heck, CEO of Happy Money. “We believe that credit unions are good for the financial ecosystem and that they can be stronger when they work together. Happy Money has the potential to build greater balance sheet connectivity, simplicity, and diversity to these financial institutions while simultaneously advancing a happier approach to lending that meets the needs of today’s consumers.”

This appointment comes at a pivotal moment, as Happy Money expands its reach and impact through underwriting expertise, powerful analytics, and direct loan origination and participation opportunities. Under Joe's leadership, Happy Money is poised to benefit even more credit unions seeking to engage a new generation of members through diverse and digital channels – ultimately benefiting borrowers and partners across the nation.

“Joe’s depth and breadth of experience in lending paired with his integrity and intentionality made him the perfect candidate to lead Happy Money into this next season,” said Tracy Edkins, former CHRO of Splunk, and Happy Money Board Member. “On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, we are excited to see how Happy Money furthers its impact in the years ahead under Joe’s steady leadership.”

Happy Money looks forward to this next phase of its journey, propelled by a vision of lending that supports consumers and financial institutions thriving together. The company’s mission is more relevant than ever as they seek to design a happier way of lending that helps borrowers achieve their goals and helps credit unions achieve greater impact. Through their platform, Happy Money helps credit unions compete at scale with the technology and reach they need to serve more people and deepen their community impact, while increasing access to credit sourced from institutions that hold borrowers’ best interests at heart.

Happy Money is a financial technology company that offers a people-first lending experience in partnership with credit unions and other community-focused financial institutions. Our vision of transforming the lending industry comes to life through our connected platform of financial partners who help offer a happier digital lending experience that meets the needs of today’s customers. Through automation and proprietary underwriting models, we offer flexible rates and payment plans that work best for borrowers’ unique financial situations. And we are expanding the reach of our core product, The Payoff Loan™ for credit card debt reduction, to even more consumers via embedded financial services. 

Backed by leading investors, Happy Money has helped over 300,000 borrowers since inception – working with lending partners to fund more than $6 billion in loans*. As a fully distributed company, Happy Money has a passionate and purpose-driven employee base of over 200 people across the United States. For more information, please visit happymoney.com.

Happy Money Appoints Joe Heck as CEO to Drive Continued Innovation in Lending

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