How WeMoney helped Sebastian consolidate debt when his bank said no

Sebastian's story at a glance

• Member: Sebastian, 36 (VIC), a state manager for a supplements retail chain in Melbourne's outer suburbs, and a father of three
• Before WeMoney: a personal loan with ING, plus a buy now pay later balance and a credit card he wanted to bring together, but ING's own rules meant he couldn't consolidate or borrow again for another twelve months
• What he consolidated: the buy now pay later balance and the credit card, into one loan through a lender matched in WeMoney
• How WeMoney helped: showed him matched lenders side by side, with their rates, repayments and approval likelihood
• His experience: a simple comparison with no fine print to wade through, no follow-up spam, and an approval that came through about a day after he applied
• After: one repayment, set aside every fortnight, with room to pay it off early if he can
• Next: he still checks in on the app's repayment tracker, and wants to see more built around everyday financial literacy

Before WeMoney

Sebastian is 36, lives in Melbourne's outer suburbs, and has three kids: the oldest 13, the next 11, and the youngest about to turn five. He's spent twelve years at his current employer, working his way up from store manager to state manager for Victoria, and before COVID he competed in powerlifting and bodybuilding.

"My bench wasn't very good, only one hundred and eighty five kilos. Squat 350 and deadlift 330."

Asked how he'd describe himself with money, he didn't hesitate: "Terrible." He and his partner had kids young, which meant there was never much room to save before they had to move out and start paying rent as a young family, and Melbourne rent for a family of five, in a four bedroom house, has stayed expensive the whole way through. His father passed away a few years ago and left some debt behind as well. Sebastian says he got out of debt himself about two years before this conversation, only for the usual costs of running a household to catch up with him again.

"I got out of debt maybe two years ago after being in debt for years. But then there's car problems and all that sort of stuff popped up, so I had to bite the bullet and get more credit, which was always stressful."

He'd taken out a personal loan with ING, and wanted to bring a buy now pay later balance and a credit card into it. The bank's own rules got in the way.

"With ING you can't consolidate other loans or get another loan within six or twelve months, twelve months I believe. So I wanted to consolidate everything, but they didn't give me the option to."

How he found us

WeMoney reached him through Instagram and Facebook ads, and he noticed them starting to appear around the beginning of the year, right as he was trying to work out how to bring his debts together.

"They definitely started popping up at about the start of the year, because it was all about consolidating debt and that sort of thing."

What made one ad stick over the others was how much simpler it made the idea sound.

"Just the ease of it. I've always known about consolidating debts, but it made it seem simpler than what I always envisioned it to be."

He didn't apply straight away. He downloaded the app around the start of the year and, by his own account, didn't submit an application until around April. Asked why the gap, his answer was straightforward.

"I just had to rip the band aid off and make that decision."

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How WeMoney helped

Once he applied, the app showed him matched lenders with their rates and repayments laid out.

"It gave me the options with the different interest rates and repayments and all that sort of thing. I wanted a seven year loan, but with the lowest interest. I think it was only offering me variable, but something where I could have low payments but also have the option to pay it out quick, because I'm saving a lot of money at the moment to be able to do a lump payment to pay it off quick."

What stood out in the list of matched lenders was how little reading it took, and that the ones he'd deal with were Australian based.

"Probably just the easy dot point form. I'm not big on reading the T's and C's. I just like straightforward comms and ease of access. I've dealt with lenders before, and you call them up and you're not speaking to someone in Australia. I like it when it's in Australia."

He also saw an approval likelihood next to each match, which made the decision easier, though it isn't what he ultimately chose on: "It made it much easier just to make my selection, more confident in making my selection." He went with the lowest rate instead: "I just went with what had the best interest rate at the time." He'd compared lenders elsewhere before and found the aftermath worse than the comparison itself.

"I've used Compare the Market and that sort of stuff before, but then I just get bombarded with promotional material from them, plus all the lenders. And that's what I've liked with you guys, I haven't been junk mailed with spam all the time."

The lender he matched with and applied through was OurMoneyMarket, and handing off from the WeMoney app to the lender's own site was, in his words, straightforward.

"No, not at all. It was straightforward, and I like that when you go to those lenders it's the instant approval, but then it was only like 24 hours later. It didn't take long at all."

WeMoney's internal records show his application, for close to $25,000, went on to settle with OurMoneyMarket. As with every lender matched through the app, OurMoneyMarket remained responsible for assessing the application, the credit decision, the loan contract and the payout. WeMoney's role was to show Sebastian the matched options so he could compare them before he went ahead.

After WeMoney

The buy now pay later balance and the credit card became one repayment, set aside every fortnight.

"It's annoying that I have to pay money back, but it's seamless. It's an easy process. I don't have to think about it. I just know what has to be put aside every fortnight."

He doesn't use the app often now, but comes back to the repayment tracker to see what paying a bit extra would do to the timeline.

"I use it now, not regularly, but just to see the budgeting side, that tracker, to see how much money, if I put this much extra in, I could pay it off this much sooner. That's what I liked. It's sort of like goal setting, it gives you little goals along the way."

Asked what would get him using the app more, he pointed to financial literacy rather than any loan feature: something like a small investing app he'd seen elsewhere, and help around tax time.

"If you're paying your debt off, maybe if you just invested $5 a week into something else, you could create some wealth in the long term." On tax: "That's so handy for everyday Australians, because they just don't know what they can claim."

His broader view of the financial system he grew up in is blunt. Asked what comes to mind when he hears the words banks, debt repayments and loans, his answer was one word: "Trap."

"We're not really taught about finances growing up unless your parents are good with their finances. As soon as you finish high school in Australia, Commonwealth Bank pretty much just give you your first $500 credit card, and they make it sound all good, and then that gets you stuck in that trap. And then they sell you the afterpays and the zip pays and all this sort of thing, and it sounds awesome, but at the end of the day people should spend less than they earn. It's a very materialistic world, and everyone likes new things, and you've got to keep up with the Joneses."

He'd recommend WeMoney to a friend for the same reasons that got him through the process, and sums up what he thinks it's trying to do, business motives included.

"Ease of access, and just even you guys reaching out, and it being human interaction and good customer service." And: "I know it's a business, and you want to make money and everyone wants to make money, but you're trying to help more Australians with credit and loans and that sort of thing. So that's good."

If your own lender says no, see what else is out there

Sebastian's bank had rules that kept him locked into one loan for a year, even though he had other debts he wanted to bring together. If that sounds familiar, connecting your accounts in WeMoney can show your loans, buy now pay later balances and credit cards together, and let you compare matched lenders on their rate, term, fees and repayment before you apply anywhere.

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Sebastian's figures, rate and timing are his individual experience. Consolidating restructures debt rather than removing it, and a lower repayment does not automatically mean a lower total cost. Eligibility and outcomes vary by member and lender, and his story is not a promise that another person will receive the same result.

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