How WeMoney helped Annabelle turn two credit cards into one repayment

Annabelle's story at a glance

• Member: Annabelle, 37 (VIC), a social worker for a government agency who also helps run a business, and a mum of several kids
• Before WeMoney: two credit cards holding about $10,000 between them, one at a rate she describes as through the roof, and no tracking of anything
• What she consolidated: both cards, into one loan through a lender matched in WeMoney
• How WeMoney helped: gave her the visual she had never had, then showed her matched consolidation options with the rates attached
• Her experience: approved in about a day, and the lender called her rather than leaving her waiting
• After: $118 a fortnight on a loan with an end date, instead of card minimums that never moved the balance
• Next: buying a house

Before WeMoney

Annabelle is 37, works full time as a social worker for a government agency, helps run a business, and has a house full of children. She earns well. That was never the problem.

"For me it's not really about what I make. It's more about having so many different financial commitments."

She came through a divorce a few years ago and set about rebuilding, then remarried. Between school fees, sport and everything else, the number of commitments kept growing, and she had never used any tool to track a single one of them.

She rates the difference plainly: with a plan, the stress is about a five out of ten. Without one, it is eleven.

Underneath it were two credit cards, roughly $6,000 on one and $4,000 on the other, one of them a store card at a rate she remembers as through the roof. She was paying a couple of hundred dollars a month on one and $100 to $150 on the other, and it was going almost entirely on interest.

"I couldn't keep up. It was killing me."

How she found us

Nobody recommended WeMoney to her. She was in a stuck spot, searched for something that would show her where she stood, and found it herself.

What she wanted was not advice. It was a picture.

"I needed a visual to know what was going on."

She was cautious about connecting her bank accounts, and says so directly. She read reviews first to satisfy herself about what could be extracted, and her feedback to us is that the signup could say more, up front, about how data is collected and secured. That is fair, and we have it.

[[app-sm]]

How WeMoney helped

For the first stretch Annabelle used WeMoney purely to see things: budget, transactions, goals, and a net worth view that pulled in her superannuation, which she had never really looked at.

"The net worth part is a reality check, but it's really visual, and it's really good to be able to see over time where I'm at."

Then the consolidation options appeared, with rates against them. What convinced her to look was not the offer itself but what it implied.

"It actually gave me a little bit of confidence, because it knows your credit history. When it started to give me options, I was like, oh, this is good."

She chose OurMoneyMarket because it was the lowest rate she was shown, and did not feel the need to go searching elsewhere, since the matches were based on her actual position. She sent through the documents the lender asked for, they called her, and it was done inside a day or two. The lender remained responsible for the credit decision, the contract and the payout. WeMoney's role was to show her the matched options and the rates so she could choose.

She would not have applied cold. It was using the app first that made her willing to.

"I don't feel like the intention is to figure out where your gaps are. It figures out your gaps and then it gives you an option to sort it out. Banks are the complete opposite."

After WeMoney

The two cards became one repayment of $118 a fortnight.

It is worth being precise about what changed, because the monthly amounts are not far apart. What she had been paying on the cards was mostly interest, on balances that stayed where they were. What she pays now is a fixed repayment on a loan with a term and an end date, at a lower rate. The relief is that the money is finally moving the debt rather than holding it still.

The other part is the cards themselves.

"I just don't want the burden of those multiple credit cards."

She tracks her credit score in the app now, and she is saving towards a house, which means keeping a close eye on her spending habits. The one thing she would change is small: a share platform she uses would never link, so that part of her position stays outside the picture.

What she says the app gave her, in the end, is a slightly awkward word for her to use about a finance app.

"It sounds corny, but it actually gives you a little bit of hope. I can see what's going on. I have a plan."

See the whole picture before you decide

If you are paying minimums on cards and the balances are not moving, the useful first step is seeing everything in one place. Connecting your accounts in WeMoney can show your debts, spending, net worth and credit score together, and you can then review consolidation options you may be eligible for and compare the repayment, rate, term, fees and total amount repayable against what the cards are costing you.

[[calculator-sm]]

Annabelle's figures, rate and timing are her individual experience. Eligibility and outcomes vary by member and lender, and her story is not a promise that another person will receive the same result.

[[signup-sm]]