This guest post is from Rod Ebrahimi, CEO of ReadyForZero
At ReadyForZero, our focus has always been on helping people pay off debt and take control of their finances so they can begin building wealth. It’s a mission that has inspired us since our very first user.
We started out very small, when I helped my girlfriend make a spreadsheet to organize her student loans. After that, my co-founder Ignacio Thayer and I realized that many of our friends and loved ones had debt. We decided it was our challenge to create a tool that would help them. Focusing on this mission has helped us create the best debt management tool in the industry. Our users are regular people all across the U.S. who are tired of being burdened by their debt and ready to become debt free.
Many of our users have expressed interest in being able to monitor their improving credit score as they gradually pay down debt. This is one of the main reasons why we are very excited to now feature the VantageScore 3.0 as an important part of our debt management tool. As a new, integral part of ReadyForZero, the VantageScore will help people better understand their current financial standing and learn how their credit affects many other aspects of their financial life.
With the VantageScore, ReadyForZero becomes the first site that combines credit information, real-time account data, bill payments and personalized financial offerings to reduce debt and build wealth. This combination and the fact that our tool is accessible from anywhere via our mobile app demonstrate the powerful momentum our team has created. We strive to be the most actionable, intuitive, and reputable resource for regular Americans to take control of their financial destiny.
Now that we’re able to show users their VantageScore through our new partnership with Experian, we’re getting lots of positive feedback. For example, Michael DiCillo, a ReadyForZero user from Ohio said, “the addition of my VantageScore credit score provides me with greater control over my financial health.”
We’re overjoyed that ReadyForZero’s debt reduction tool will provide a 360-degree view of a person’s finances so that an individual can make informed decisions about how to accomplish specific goals like paying off debt, improving credit, and building wealth.
No matter what their credit score may be, having the ability to see the VantageScore will help ReadyForZero users stay motivated and informed on a monthly basis. Just as ReadyForZero’s debt repayment graphs and personalized reminders inspire people to make more progress paying off debt, the VantageScore and accompanying credit score graph will serve as inspiration for continuing to stay on track.
Since the VantageScore model is easy to understand and includes an explanation of not only a person’s credit score but also the factors that affect the score, it will provide a unique value to our users. We want everyone to be able to see credit scores as more than an abstract number and to know why their credit score increases, decreases, or remains at its current level.
Education is a big part of our mission — we have become recognized as an authoritative voice on finance and have recently launched resource centers focused on topics like Mortgages, Credit Scores, and Relationships and Money, which are intended to give people the kind of trustworthy information they need when getting serious about pursuing their financial goals.
Moving forward, all of us at ReadyForZero will continue to focus on helping people pay off debt and take control of their finances. Our partnership with Experian and the inclusion of the VantageScore in our debt reduction tool will be a big part of that.