2016-03-16
Interest Is A Budget’s Worst Enemy
A growing number of Americans are struggling to manage their finances, and few seem to realize how easy it is to reduce one critical part of a typical monthly budget. According to NerdWallet, the average U.S. household is paying a total of $6,658 per year in interest alone! Broken down, that amounts to $554 per month that Americans pay and get nothing in return. The good news is, even if it will take you years to pay off the principal of your debts, there are several easy ways to minimize your monthly interest payments.
Refinance your mortgage
Mortgages are such a large debt to take on that most people make sure to get the best interest rate at the time they take out their mortgage. However, interest rates change over time and even a 1.0% drop in interest rates came mean thousands of dollars saved on a six-figure mortgage. The Federal Reserve recently issued its first rate hike from historically-low levels since the Financial Crisis, and rates will likely continue to rise in coming years. If you haven’t taken the time to refinance your mortgage in recent years, now may be your last chance to take advantage of cyclically-low rates.
Improve your credit
Sometimes, something as simple as growing older or moving to a different zip code can allow you to qualify for lower interest rates on loans. However, improving your credit score is one sure-fire way to qualify for lower-rate loans. To boost your credit score, make sure to make payments on time and be mindful of your debt-to-credit ratio (the lower the better).
Consolidate and prioritize your debt payments
Credit card debt is usually the worst type of debt to carry in terms of interest rates. The average credit card rate is currently around 15%, much higher than mortgage, student loan or private loan rates. By taking out a private loan from an online lender like Prosper or Lending Club, you can pay off your high-rate credit card debt and replace it with a single lower-rate loan. Any debts that remain should be prioritized in terms of their interest rates, not by the size of the balance, and higher-rate debt should always be paid off first.
Take advantage of card promotions
What’s even better than paying lower interest rates? Paying no interest at all. To get some breathing room in the short-term, look for credit cards that offer extended interest-free promotions and no balance transfer fees. The Chase Slate card currently offers an introductory 0% APR for 15 months and no balance transfer fee for 60 days.
Takeaway
Life has plenty of expenses, but at least when you pay the electricity bill or do the grocery shopping, you are getting products or services in return. Money spent on interest is completely wasted, and yet Americans are still paying $554 per month in interest alone. The first step to eliminating your debt burden is to stop the bleeding from high interest rates. You might be surprised how far an extra $554 per month could go.
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MoneyLion
MoneyLion Wins “Best Financial Literacy Tool” and “Best API” at Benzinga’s 2022 Global Fintech Awards
MoneyLion’s consumer and enterprise businesses were recognized as winners of Benzinga’s 2022 Global Fintech Awards at this year’s Fintech Deal Day
New York, December 14, 2022-- MoneyLion Inc. (“MoneyLion”) (NYSE: ML), the go-to destination for personalized financial content, products and advice, is proud to announce that it has been named “Best Financial Literacy Tool” at Benzinga’s 2022 Global Fintech Awards. MoneyLion’s enterprise business, Even Financial, was also named as the winner for “Best API.”
MoneyLion and Even Financial were honored alongside other top Fintechs, banks, research companies and more. MoneyLion’s consumer business continues to push financial literacy through innovative and personalized content. With the MoneyLion app, users can view personalized financial content in short-form video format and receive personalized financial product recommendations such as loans, insurance and investing. As MoneyLion’s enterprise offering, Even Financial digitally connects and matches consumers with real-time personalized product recommendations from banks, insurance carriers, and Fintech companies on mobile apps, websites and other digital touchpoints through its financial product search engine and Embedded Finance Marketplace technology. This technology powers both the MoneyLion Marketplace, in the MoneyLion app, as well as more than 1,000 enterprise partners.
“We’re thrilled MoneyLion’s consumer and enterprise businesses were recognized by Benzinga,” said Dee Choubey, Co-Founder and CEO of MoneyLion. “Both awards showcase MoneyLion’s every time you money approach to helping our customers. The financial literacy gap is a huge problem for millions of Americans and we remain committed to reducing its effects through engaging, informative content and key partnerships designed to bring an elevated educational experience to all.”
These awards follow the October announcement of MoneyLion University, where MoneyLion launched its latest initiative aimed at closing the gap in money and financial education across the United States.
“We could not be more pleased with Benzinga’s recognition of our company’s API technology,” stated Phill Rosen, CEO and Founder of Even Financial. “Our technology natively integrates real-time credit decisions and product recommendations from the industry’s largest network of connected financial services providers, offering access and choice to consumers searching for financial products. Our elegant Embedded Finance Marketplace, API and search engine enable any company to add trusted, personalized financial products and services to their business, reaching people when and where they need it.”
Even Financial has been named a listmaker for the Benzinga Global Fintech Awards for the last two years and was a previous award winner. In 2021, Even was selected as a listmaker for Best API and, in 2020, selected as a listmaker for both Best API and Best API Platform. In 2019, Even was awarded the Benzinga Rocky Award.
The annual Benzinga Global Fintech Awards take pride in recognizing and honoring the companies and individuals who are propelling the Fintech and financial services industry forward with the most impressive technology advancements and innovations. A panel of industry experts from a wide range of companies reviewed and judged the nominations. Winners were announced at Benzinga’s Fintech Deal Day on December 8, 2022, where MoneyLion’s Chief Customer Officer Cynthia Kleinbaum spoke on the panel, Expert Growth Hacks For Reaching Underserved Markets.
About MoneyLion MoneyLion is the go-to destination for personalized financial content, products and advice. MoneyLion’s mission is to rewire the financial system to positively change the path of every hard-working American. MoneyLion uses its proprietary data advantage and technology to empower its customers. MoneyLion engages and educates its customers with daily, hyper-personalized money-related and money-adjacent content that is delivered through each customer’s own content feed. MoneyLion provides its customers a full suite of financial and non-financial solutions, bundling its proprietary, low-cost financial products with products that are offered through its marketplace technology and network affiliate partners. MoneyLion also leverages its distinct data, technology, and network advantages to deliver leading embedded finance and marketplace solutions for enterprise customers. Since its founding in 2013, MoneyLion has empowered millions of Americans to take control of their finances and live their best financial life, every day.
For more information about the company, visit https://www.moneylion.com/ and https://www.evenfinancial.com. For investor information and updates, visit investors.moneylion.com and follow @MoneyLionIR on Twitter.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221214006032/en/
MoneyLion Communications [email protected]
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Even Financial [email protected]
Built In
Even Named A Built In “2023 Best Places to Work”
New York, Jan. 11, 2023 -- Even Financial ("Even"), an independent subsidiary of MoneyLion Inc. (NYSE: ML), and a leading embedded finance marketplace platform, is proud to announce that it was honored in Built In’s “2023 Best Places To Work” Awards. Specifically, Even earned a place on the Hybrid Best Places to Work in New York.
The Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honors companies across numerous categories, sizes, remote-first employers as well as in person and hybrid working companies across the U.S.
Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits, and also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, as well as other people-first cultural offerings.
This announcement follows Even’s recent win at the Benzinga Global Fintech Awards for “Best API.”
About Even Financial
Even is the industry-leading embedded financial marketplace and independent subsidiary of MoneyLion Inc. (“MoneyLion”) (NYSE: ML). MoneyLion is a leading digital financial services and lifestyle content platform serving both consumer and enterprise customers. As part of MoneyLion’s enterprise offering, Even digitally connects and matches consumers with real-time, personalized financial product recommendations from banks, insurance carriers, and fintech companies on mobile apps, websites, and other digital touchpoints through its marketplace technology. Even's infrastructure leverages machine learning and advanced data science to solve a significant pain point in financial services customer acquisition, seamlessly bridging financial services providers (such as SoFi) and channel partners (such as TransUnion) via its industry-leading API and embedded finance marketplaces. Even enables any company to add financial products to its business, with full compliance and security at scale. Even was named one of "America's Best Startup Employers'' by Forbes for 2022 and was named to the 2021 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, which recognizes the fastest growing tech companies in the world. Learn more at www.evenfinancial.com and investors.moneylion.com.