How WeMoney helped Andres compare debt consolidation offers, then decide to wait

• Member: Andres, 34, Sydney (NSW), PowerBI developer
• Before WeMoney: One personal loan and two credit cards, manageable but tracked by hand in Excel across accounts that did not talk to each other
• What he did: Compared debt consolidation options in the WeMoney app and applied for a loan through OurMoneyMarket, requesting around $50,000 to bring the loan and both cards together
• How WeMoney helped: Brought his accounts into one view, showed an approval likelihood score for his matched lenders, and carried his details across to OurMoneyMarket
• His experience: Approved, but he decided the rate difference was not big enough to go ahead
• After: Still checks WeMoney most weeks for spending categorisation, his credit score and new offers
• Next: Plans to revisit consolidation in a couple of years, once more of his loan is paid down

Before WeMoney

Andres works as a PowerBI developer for an alcohol company in Sydney, in a hybrid role split between home and the CBD. He describes himself as fairly hands on with money. "I've always been a bit manual with my money. I don't like the auto debits. I like to actually check on everything and do things myself, just so I can have some control and see what's going in and out."

Before WeMoney, that meant Excel. "A lot of it was manual, so I would just use Excel to look at my own tracking." With several bank accounts that did not link to each other, keeping the spreadsheet current took real effort. "I had to do a lot of manual work because there were different bank accounts and they didn't link." As he puts it, "it's very time consuming, and there's a higher risk of error when there's a lot of manual numbers. I might miss something."

When he downloaded WeMoney, his debt itself was not a crisis. "I had one loan and two credit cards which were fine, they were always manageable. But I got into a new role with a bit higher of a salary, so I just wanted to see where that can be spread out and paid faster."

How he found WeMoney

Andres was already Googling money management apps when WeMoney's ads started showing up. "It was an ad, I think. But also I was doing a bit of research for better money control and things. I think it kind of happened hand in hand." He remembers seeing WeMoney on "Instagram and TikTok. Instagram for sure, TikTok I vaguely remember," with the ads leaning on "debt tracking and debt consolidation, I think, was what they were really focusing on."

He had also asked ChatGPT for help with his debts. "I did do a bit of ChatGPT consulting. I put some of my finances on there and asked what's the best way to approach my debts and pay things back. And it did recommend getting an app that helps you consolidate or have a better view, and it did briefly mention WeMoney." No single moment made him download it. "I think when I got WeMoney it was because it came from a lot of directions. I saw it everywhere, and I think that was kind of what made me interested in it."

Before he applied for anything, he checked WeMoney out the way he checks most things. "What made me trust WeMoney was the reviews, to be honest. I did a lot of customer reviews just on Google and everyone seemed really happy. It seemed like a solid app and it seemed trustworthy as well."

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How WeMoney helped

Andres spent about a month using the app before he applied for anything. The feature he leaned on most was spending categorisation. "I mainly like to look at the spending tracking, because it categorizes your spending and it's easier to look at than my bank account. Especially if I know I've had a very expensive few days, I like to go on there and review what I've done."

When he did apply, he found the process easy to follow. "Straightforward, pretty standard like any other one. It's good that it shows you different comparisons, and then you click and it takes you to the loan page. I didn't find it difficult, to be honest." WeMoney's approval likelihood score also shaped which lender he chose. "That actually helps heaps."

He requested around $50,000 to bring his personal loan and both credit cards together, and was matched with OurMoneyMarket. Handing his details across felt smooth. "It seemed pretty straightforward. From what I recall there was a lot of pre-filled things, so it wasn't too bad." This was not his first time checking rates for a consolidation loan, either. A similar check a year or two earlier had not turned into an application, and this attempt moved faster thanks to those pre-filled details. "It was easier."

As with every lender matched through WeMoney, OurMoneyMarket remained responsible for its own credit decision, loan contract and any settlement. WeMoney's role was to show Andres his matched options side by side, carry his details across, and let him compare before he decided whether to continue.

Andres is also candid about what he thinks WeMoney could do better. He was frustrated that he could not see an accurate rate until far into the process. "I don't think this is a WeMoney thing, I think this is just how all the banks are, but it's really annoying when they don't give you a more accurate interest rate at the beginning. It's hard to tell, and I think that's kind of what made me go all the way to the end, even though I basically got my credit score pulled anyway but didn't take the cash." He has also noticed some consolidation offers in the app that look worse, not better, than what he already has. "Sometimes on WeMoney it'll suggest that I try consolidating loans, and it'll actually put loan offers that are considerably higher than what I'm already paying. I'm not really sure why that would show up there, because I don't think anybody would want that."

After WeMoney

Andres was approved, but chose not to go ahead. "I actually chose against it at the end. I did get it, and then I decided to just stay how I was. That was my decision though, there was no friction with WeMoney or anything there." The rate itself was not the problem. "I think the interest rate didn't justify the consolidation. It was okay, it wasn't a bad interest rate, and I didn't think WeMoney led me astray or showed me anything wrong. I was just kind of like, it's not too big of a deal difference, I don't want to go through all these hassles right now."

He is candid that the timing was on him, not the app. "Once I got to the end and actually got my interest rate, I was fine. And then I thought more about it, and then I wasn't as fine. That's kind of my fault though, I wouldn't really blame WeMoney for that part." His credit score moved only slightly through the check, from 642 to 638.

Andres still opens WeMoney most weeks, mainly for the same reasons he started. "I'm still using it for that same purpose. I still use it to look at my credit score and look at what offers there are available, because I still want a better loan. I'm just going to wait until there's a big difference. I don't want to take that loan, take the cash, and then refinance again a year from now. So I decided to wait." He plans to revisit consolidation in a couple of years. "I definitely think I will revisit this in probably two years time, when a bit of that loan's paid off, and then I can maybe get better rates."

Asked what he would recommend to a friend, he comes back to the same thing that keeps him opening the app. "The go to would be that you can see all your linked accounts in one place. That's the best part, you don't have to open a million things. You still have to go back to your bank to do transactions, but seeing everything in one location, and the categories as well." His one wish list item is a repayment simulator. "Maybe an estimator, where you could see what you owe and what your minimum balance is, and then a simulator where you could say, instead of paying my minimum balance, if I paid a certain amount more, this would be what you're saving on interest, this would be how much shorter you'd have left to pay your balance off."

Thinking about consolidating your own debt?

Andres's experience shows that comparing options does not mean committing to them. WeMoney can show you matched lenders and an approval likelihood score before you apply anywhere, so you can see the numbers first and decide on your own timeline. If you want to see what a consolidated repayment could look like for your own situation, try the [[calculator-sm]] and compare it against what you are paying now.

Andres's figures, rate and timing are his individual experience. Eligibility and outcomes vary by member and lender, and his story is not a promise that another person will receive the same result. A lower repayment does not automatically mean a lower total cost, and extending a loan's term can increase the total interest paid, so it is worth comparing the full picture before deciding to refinance.

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