In this episode, Tedd Huff and Colton Pond interview Joe Heck, the CEO of Happy Money. Happy Money focuses on personal lending and debt consolidation, aiming to help borrowers achieve their financial goals. They use personal loans to improve their financial situations. Joe shares insights on Happy Money's mission and their unique approach to lending, focusing on cash flow underwriting and differentiation in the market.

Joe also discusses the importance of alternative data and the impact of credit unions as strategic partners. Happy Money partners with credit unions to deliver a member-centric experience, emphasizing the shift from transactional lending to building relationships with consumers. He highlights the role of technology in providing personalized experiences and the need for business agility.

Joe shares his vision for the future of financing, including the potential of AI. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of optimizing infrastructure and focusing on the consumer to achieve Happy Money's mission of designing a happier way of lending..

Key Highlights:

1. Happy Money's Mission: Focus on helping borrowers become savers through personal lending and debt consolidation.

2. Insights from the CEO of Happy Money, Joe Heck: Company's journey and approach to lending.

3. Innovative Lending Approach: Utilizing cash flow underwriting and alternative data to personalize lending decisions.

4. Partnerships with Credit Unions: Strategic alliances with credit unions to offer a member-centric experience and expand network partnerships.

5. Empowering Borrowers: Transitioning from transactional lending to building ongoing relationships with borrowers.

6. Investment in Technology: Leveraging technology to drive personalized experiences and improve financial well-being.

7. Future of Financing: Exploring the potential of AI in personalizing and simplifying the customer experience.

8. Optimizing Infrastructure: Emphasizing the importance of infrastructure optimization for customer-centric solutions.

9. Empowerment and Financial Education: Highlighting the role of Happy Money in empowering consumers with knowledge and tools for better financial decisions.

10. Member Success Stories: Discussing the impact of Happy Money's approach on the lives of over 300,000 members and their journey to financial freedom.

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Takeaways:

1️⃣ Empowering Borrowers: Happy Money is dedicated to turning borrowers into savers by consolidating credit card debt into lower interest rate personal loans.

2️⃣ Partnerships with Credit Unions: The company's strategic partnerships with credit unions provide a competitive edge and align the interests of consumers and financial institutions.

3️⃣ Importance of Technology: Investing in technology and personalized experiences is crucial for delivering a member-centric experience in the lending industry.

4️⃣ Future of Financing: Joe Heck discusses the potential of leveraging AI to personalize and simplify the customer experience in the future of financing.

5️⃣ Optimizing Infrastructure: The importance of optimizing infrastructure to focus on customer-centric solutions and improve the overall lending experience.

Links:

Happy Money

Website: https://happymoney.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/happy-money/

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Time Stamps:

This is a Production of Diamond D3, Media

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About The Guest:

Joe Heck:

Joe Heck is CEO of Happy Money, a leading platform for unsecured lending in partnership with credit unions. Over the last four years, Joe has played a critical role in driving Happy Money’s growth, operations, product innovation, and long-term capital strategy for originations. Prior to his CEO appointment in 2023, he served as the Chief Operating Officer, overseeing risk, data science, operations, and customer experience. Now as CEO, he brings his unique combination of grit and creativity to steer the company through this next season and drive the team forward to create value for Happy Money’s stakeholders, partners, and consumers alike. Joe has a legacy of driving innovation and transformation within the lending industry as well as years of experience working with credit unions. Prior to joining Happy Money, Joe spent 15 years at CUNA Mutual Group (now TruStage) in various leadership roles, including leading product innovation to help financial institutions on their digital transformation journey. Joe implemented a lean startup culture to enable customer-centric product development, increasing development and go-to-market velocity. He also served as an advisor to the company’s venture arm, TruStage Ventures, in evaluating fintech partnerships specific to the credit union industry. Joe received his MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Business and has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Michigan State University. Joe and his wife Britta have two young children, Oliver and Lincoln, and reside in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Happy Money:

Happy Money is designing a happier way of lending that helps borrowers achieve their goals and helps credit unions achieve greater impact. Our mission comes to life through our platform, which enables happier lending at scale by connecting consumers with financial institutions who keep their best interests at heart. Through this model, we also bring credit unions access to technology solutions, high-performing assets, and national reach to accelerate their impact on communities and help increase their strength and resilience.Backed by leading investors, Happy Money has helped over 300,000 borrowers since inception – working with community-focused lending partners to fund more than $6 billion in loans*. Visit happymoney.com to learn more.

About the Hosts:

Tedd Huff: Tedd Huff is the Founder of Voalyre, a professional services advisory firm focused on global payments and DD3 Media.

Over the past 24 years, he has contributed to FinTech startups as an Advisory Board Member, Co-Founder, and Chief Experience Officer, providing strategic and tactical direction for Global Payments OpenEdge, Heartland Payments, Nuvei, and TSYS, among others, focusing on growth while delivering innovation, process improvements and user experience-driven value to simplify the complexity of payments.

Colton Pond: Colton Pond is a seasoned marketing executive with a strong fintech and financial services background. In his latest role, he is the CMO for LoanPro's API-first lending platform, aiming to meet increasing market demands. His track record includes a significant tenure at Truv, where he led the marketing team to 300% revenue growth year over year. Colton has also held key marketing and sales positions at MX, Lucid, and HealthEquity, demonstrating his ability to drive success and innovation within the fintech sector.

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