Changed - Automate Debt Payoff Reviews

by Booncity

I originally signed up for Changed a year ago. Connected my bank account, my loans, and was off to the races on saving money and making a payment. Eventually I got to the point where a loan payment was made, great! However, a little over a month later I moved states and subsequently bank accounts (from a ‘traditional’ bank to a federal credit union). When I went to link my new credit union up, they had implemented the Plaid interface, which my credit union is not a part of. It’s been 8 months now that my account has been on hold and I just keep going round and round with support with no answers. I loved this concept, still want to, but not worth the hassle at this point.

by Okc52

I was really excited to try Changed because I never pay more than the minimum on my loan. But the numbers were really confusing and didn’t always add up. I emailed support about it and they just responded with the basic explanation of how they collect change. Also, they are really bad at communication exactly when and how much money they will take out of your account. I got the email notification and was still waiting for days, so I made a payment at the vet and the next morning I had an overdraft fee of $30 just for under $10 that had been collected. I immediately disconnected my bank account but I was really disappointed that they would wait until I had no money in my account to take it out. And if we are collected spare change to pay massive loans, why even charge a fee at all?? There should be a warning or a notification that there is insufficient funds and try again later. This really messed me up on a week where I was very tight on cash.

by Kz875

I initially loved Changed but was very disappointed with customer service. A few months in I this app banks, and my new bank was not supported. I emailed customer service and they told me they would work on getting the connection up so I could continue to use Changed with my new account. After three months of waiting and no progress I decided to close out my this app account. I received notification the account would be closed and my balance on Changed would be refunded to my bank account in 3-5 business days. That was over three weeks ago and I am still waiting to get my money back.

by 1madlady

In theory this is an awesome program. A friend told me about it and when she explained that they would collect all of the loose change in my account I fell in love because who is really pressed for change.. Everything was fine until the payment was “sent” to my student loan. The payment was never received. For two weeks I’ve been trying to rectify the situation but this companies communication is horrible. It’s like they pick and choose which emails to answer and when they do they give you some bs reason as to why the payment wasn’t received. I even went so far as to screenshot my payment history as proof and guess what?! I was met with no response. Like someone said above just pay your own bill. They are full of it and for all I know they are just sitting on my money. I’ve asked for a refund and if I do not get all of my money back I will take action with my bank

by Trident509

I was Really excited to be get going after hearing what was possible inside of Changed. Unfortunately my experience has been less than satisfactory. From the beginning there were problems syncing my bank account inside Changed . I continued to get error messages so I reached out to the support team. At first they got back to me and told me the issue was resolved since they saw it as synched. I explained that I had just re-synched it and all they were seeing was a short period of Changed working correctly. I had to re-submit a complaint to support. They responded that they were investigating and that I would have a follow up shortly. That was 10 days ago. By now I’ve given up. It never worked from the beginning.
RIP this app App

by Dball34

I saw Changed on Shark Tank, it seemed awesome and I was excited for it. Downloaded it, went through the whole set up process and everything. After a month my loan servicer/provided still wasn’t linked. I messaged support and all they did was walk me through how to connect, which I already know how to do. My federal loans are consolidated, it wouldn’t allow me to pick the 1 loan....it listed every single loan I had, which makes it hard to choose and type in all the correct info. I finally just wanted to cancel my account and get my money out. They canceled my next round-up dispersement which was fine, and said they would provide a way for me to get my money out. Well I still haven’t been able to get my money out and I even had to unlink my bank acct bc it kept taking round-ups and I don’t want to use Changed anymore....I just want my money out!!!!! I will use a different app I found.

by AJF1989

I love the idea of throwing spare change at my student loans but Changed has never worked right for me. Some of my transactions never show up under the appropriate accounts that are linked so it’s hard to see where the spare change is coming from. Also with my credit card Changed is pulling twice the amount of money it should be since it’s recognizing a pending transaction and posted transaction as two charges when it’s the same charge.

I’ve emailed multiple times to contact someone about this and never get a solid answer back. I’m told it’s being worked on whatever that means. On a positive note I just sent my first $100 payment towards my student loans!

Great app but the functionality needs much improvement.

by Lovesick Melody

I downloaded Changed in 2017 and at first it was great. I was getting $100 added to my loans about every 3-4 months which doesn’t seem like a lot but it helps. I used it for my smallest loans and when I paid them off, I switched over to my bigger loans. Changed recently updated and I’ve had nothing but problems. It won’t sync my banking info or loan info and asks me to put this information in everyday. Eventually it stopped rounding up because the connectivity of my accounts wouldn’t stay synced. I eventually had to delete it, there’s just too many problems with the new update.

by TheGingerAsh

I really like idea of money rounding apps such as this or ones that invest rounded change for you. However I wasn’t able to actually use this one. Unlike the investment apps I’ve seen this one takes a little more initiative on the users part to sign up. It’s not as simple as giving permissions to sync with your banking account and student loan account. It requires reviewing numerous screens on your loan account to find all their requested information. It does break it down for you and show you where to find all the required information according to who your loan provider is but in the end it wasn’t worth the aggravation.
This isn’t a payment plan so it’s not really a necessity and isn’t going to make you’re life easier. You’ll still need to makes sure your amount is paid in full each month. For me it wasn’t worth the hassle just to put a few dollars into the accounts each month.
Overall it’s a great concept but not worth the hassle.

by Dknigght20

As a former student with student loans I’ve spent the early part of my adult life stressing over paying these off. When an app that calculates savings to the point I won’t even notice the money gone fell in my lap I was interested. On top of that little perk the money that is saved is then sent to your student loans to pay them off quicker.

So far saving the $50 was easy. You just link your financial accounts with Changed and go about your life like usual. Now that a payment has been sent I’m waiting to give this 5 stars. The online customer service portal says it can take between 5-10 business days for a payment to show. Once the payment shows Changed is easily a 5 star app for those with student loans.

by Dennis Freire

I have been using Changed for about 6 months and has not failed me. Very easy to use and practical. Just by the fact that every payment goes towards your principal is a Win Win and you don’t feel the payments coming out of your account because you can set it up however you feel, highly recommend Changed.

by PrinceHector

Like many others on here I found myself pleasantly surprised after a few months. I downloaded and linked everything about 5 months ago one day when I heard about it and was bored. Admittedly I was skeptical and the user interface was a bit choppy.

Since then, they’ve improved it a bit and they are about to send my 5th payment of $100!! I even checked my student loan account and yup the payments are applied.

Overall, while it has some flaws, Changed is so useful especially for me that I deferred and am not paying my loans right now, but this is keeping the interest at bay! And I plan on keeping this going when I do start paying so that it increases the rate at which i pay off my loans!

I recommend Changed to friends and colleagues all the time

by H___A

I paid off my student loan today after 20 years!!! this app had a small hand in that process after seeing a re-run of Shark Tank. I started using Changed in 2018 or so. It is brilliant as you don’t notice the change in your bank account but you DO notice that nice $100 payment on your loan. Over the course of my time using Changed , I paid an extra $2500 in about 2 years. Money I didn’t even notice I paid.

by Boochie24

Now that I’ve had my first (and now second) payment sent off to my loan service, I thought I’d write a review! I’m really loving Changed! It’s fun to watch the change add up and then be sent off as a payment. I will say, I did get nervous when I was about to hit my first goal (set at $100) It hit $99 and then stopped collecting my change. I eventually found out that my bank card had become unlinked though and when I linked it back up everything worked fine again! I’ve had two payments sent off now ($100 and $50) It’s cool to see that just rounding up on my purchases can add up to extra payments on my loan.

by ChangEd, Highly Recommended

Honestly, I spend a lot of money on food, gas, and things I probably don’t need. In other words, I charge my card a lot. this app rounds each credit card purchase to the nearest dollar. Changed has its own savings account that collects the rounded difference. Once the funds add up to $100, the money then attacks to your student loan debt. It’s nice to watch $5 here and there add up to $100. It feels even better to see that $100 decrease student debt. I highly recommend Changed. At the very least, give this app a try.

by Derrick Caddock

I downloaded Changed a little while back and so far I made 7 payments with it towards my student loans! Now with the new multi loan feature I was able to link my Navient and EdFinancial loans with ease and I’ve been keeping track of both servicers within Changed . What amazed me the most is that, before the new feature this app was sending payments to my Navient 1-05 loan, but now since I’m able to select which loan to send payments towards I’m targeting my 1-01 loan and my last payment with Changed was made towards that loan! Thanks this app
#RIPStudentLoans

by Rachel RRR

Edited Review - I had griped that my account wasn’t linking but has now been restored.
I am almost to my second payment and use the boost button often when I bring my lunch from home instead of going out at work.
The concept of Changed is great and they are responsive to your questions. I think it’s a nightmare for them to figure out and maintain linking to hundreds of different banks, credit unions and credit cards and that’s usually the origin of anyone’s complaints - they can’t control your bank. Anyway, so far I’m glad I found this and will keep using it.

by Melfy

I signed up for the service because I thought it would be a helpful way to pay down student loans faster. I finished grad school in 2007 and STILL have loans I am paying down.

So far in just a few months, I have thrown an extra $100 at my loans 4 times, which is really starting to make an impact. I just got my monthly credit report and I saw that my score has gone up about 30 points just from this extra payoff process. It’s a wonderful accidental side benefit that will really payoff (pun intended) when I go to refinance my house later this year!

by Kenyers

At first I was a little skeptical because it felt like it was taking forever to collect money or do anything, but it finally dropped a deposit and I was amazed. I realized it takes a while because it’s taking money without you realizing which means it’s not taking big chunks of money which I love. I do wish that Changed explained what it was doing just a tad bit because for a long time I was trying to figure out why I was looking at a giant squirrel that slowly turned orange. Other than that great app.

Edit: Three student loans paid off using Changed. I recommend this to anyone who listens.

by MissyHood

Just got my first payment sent and I am SO HAPPY about it! I started using Changed in Dec 2019 when I seen it on shark tank. I was kinda skeptical at first but omg! It’s great. Every dollar spent is rounded up even a whole dollar is rounded to nearest dollar. In 3 months I was able to put $100 towards one of my loans! I haven’t even started making payments on them yet, I just finished my degree last week. This is extremely helpful in getting that balance down sooner. $100 every 3 months really adds up so you may not think it’s worth the hassle of linking you account(s) and your loan(s) but it is totally worth 10min of screen flipping to save an extra $400 a year towards your student loan.

by Karina757

I downloaded this app and it is the best app I have ever gotten. Even though I was not too sure about it I linked my accounts and just let it take the round ups I authorized. Now it is not even a year later and it has made 11 payments of $100 each to my loan. I cannot say thank you enough to the people who started Changed. If I keep going I will pay off a student loan for my son that was for 10 years in 3. I am very grateful.

by John Fargo

Changed is easy to set up and then the rest just happens for you automatically - rounding up my purchases and paying it towards my son’s student loans, each time my roundups reach $100.

At the pace of my spending, I’m guessing I’ll end up contributing about $500-$600 per year to my son, without me really even noticing it through those individual roundups.