Payoff

Not the Best Option for High Income Earners or Small Business Owners--Watch Their Privacy Policies

I ran personal loan requests through multiple websites and Pay***.com provided what seemed to be an offer that was too good to be true: an unsecured personal loan at 6.99% for 36 months.
Here is my experience and some of the things I learned about Pay***.com (actually owned by a company named 'Happy Money') in the process-
As a self-employed small business owner, I submitted all the requested tax documents, three months of bank statements as well as the standard information requested on the loan app. However, my loan application was denied based upon an "inability to verify income". I suspect the rejection occurred because I had just filed by taxes and they hadn't yet been recorded by the IRS. I called Payoff and was told by a Payoff CSR that the records I had submitted were good until May 28th and I could simply resubmit an application again using that information. When I asked the CSR if the inability to verify income was the result of an inability of an underwriter to access my IRS tax transcript, the CSR told me he had no way of knowing the reason the income couldn't be verified.
A few days later, I accessed my IRS account and when I saw that my returns had been recorded, I called Payoff again. Official IRS tax transcripts are typically the way most lenders verify income. This time I received different information from Payoff was told that I couldn't re-apply until AFTER May 28th.
This was a slight disappointment as the rate 'offered' by Payoff was about 2.5 pts. lower than my next lowest offer, but I wasn't really upset at the policy so much as the fact that I was told two different things about the policy by two different Payoff CSRs. I spent time collecting, scanning and providing Payoff a fairly large amount of personal information--even going to the point of requesting my own IRS tax transcript which is typically something underwriters do themselves.
However, what really shocked me is when I learned more about Payoff's privacy policies. Payoff states that it doesn't sell personal data, but if you take the time to read their written policies, that isn't necessarily true. Payoff itself may not sell your individualized personal information, but that does not necessarily apply to Payoff's 'affiliates' that have their own separate policies. Furthermore, Payoff is actually owned by a company called "Happy Money" and Happy Money's policies allow the transfer of your personal data to foreign nations that don't necessarily provide the same protections guaranteed in the US. From Happy Money's website-
"When you submit personal information to Happy Money, you understand and agree that this information may be transferred across national boundaries and may be stored and processed in any of the countries in which Happy Money and its affiliates, business partners, and subsidiaries maintain offices, including, without limitation, the United States which may not provide the same statutory protection as your country of residence."
Keep in mind that Payoff really isn't a lender. It is really more of a data analytics company that has established relationship with third party vendors.
At the end of the day, I'm giving Payoff one star because I found the communication of the underwriting criteria to be opaque. I was told different things by different CSRs and a detailed explanation for the rejection could not be given.
Finally, I can't help but come to the conclusion Happy Money/Payoff is monetizing my personal data and so while I didn't benefit from my interactions with Happy Money/Payoff, they certainly did.
I suspect Payoff may be a better fit for those applicants who are employees with no Schedule C income.

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Refused to process payment to pay loan early; overly controlling

You can't do anything yourself. They have to do it. Something as simple as changing your bank account has to be done by them. Paying off your loan early is a hassle. They always find some small thing that wasn't done before the previous day. I am now on my 5th request to have the loan paid off early.

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Should be Rip-off rather than Pay-off

changed the offer after few days of waiting...mentioned that i put some details wrong and they had to review..

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Lack of customer service! I would not use!

These people could not review submitted documents in a timely manner. After submitting application, suppling immediately requested documents and a 4 day wait. Their response was we have to many requests from people for loans and it will be a week or more to review.
I stopped application if they can not review and supply you with an answer in a timely manner on an application, I can't imagine the customer service if there was a problem with your loan after accepting it!

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Don't bother

They won't help if you have a bankruptcy in the past. Even though I've built up my credit, they won't ever consider my request.

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