GreenPath Financial Wellness Review [2021]: Is It Really Free?

Cambridge Credit Counseling Review 2021: Debt Management Plans, Financial Counseling, and Lots More

It’s important to look for viable solutions if your credit is suffering or you’re struggling to get out of debt. The quicker you can fix your credit or pay down your debt, the more opportunities you’ll have to work toward financial freedom.

But what solutions are available? And can they actually help?

In this GreenPath Financial Wellness review, you’ll learn about this popular credit counseling company, what services it offers, and what we like about it. This will help you decide whether GreenPath Financial Wellness is right for you and your credit or debt needs.

In this GreenPath Financial Wellness review

• An overview of GreenPath Financial Wellness
• GreenPath Financial Wellness plan basics
• What services does GreenPath Financial Wellness offer?
• What we like about GreenPath Financial Wellness
• Where GreenPath Financial Wellness could improve
• What GreenPath Financial Wellness customers are saying
• GreenPath Financial Wellness customer service
• FAQs
• Bottom line

An overview of GreenPath Financial Wellness

GreenPath Financial Wellness is a national nonprofit organization based in Farmington Hills, Michigan. It is focused on helping people achieve financial health so they can have more freedom to do what they want in life. GreenPath is a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). It is also accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), which is an independent, not-for-profit organization.

The company was formed in 1961 by the Michigan Credit Union League as a credit counseling service to help customers who were struggling with their financial situation. Since the 1960s, GreenPath has grown and evolved into a company with over 450 employees and more than 30 locations in 21 states. The company partners with different financial institutions, including over 550 credit unions.

GreenPath claims to be different from similar companies because it focuses on people and their needs. This includes credit counseling, but its overall financial wellness strategy also involves debt management and financial counseling that covers a variety of areas.

To date, GreenPath has helped tens of thousands of people repay hundreds of millions of dollars in credit card debt, and it made our list of the best credit counseling companies.

GreenPath Financial Wellness plan basics

What services does GreenPath Financial Wellness offer?

GreenPath Financial Wellness offers a variety of services to contribute to your overall financial wellness. These services are separated into three main categories: counseling, housing, and resources.

Counseling

• Debt counseling: This service includes both debt counseling and credit counseling. It can help you understand your debt management options and how to develop a plan to reach your financial goals.
• Debt management: This service could help you get lower interest rates, lower your monthly payments, waive certain fees, and stop collection calls.
• Bankruptcy support: It’s recommended to start with free debt counseling, but GreenPath can also help you if you need specific advice for navigating the legal steps of bankruptcy.
• Student loan counseling: Standard student loan counseling could help you develop a plan to pay down debt, including a review of different repayment options. If you pay for enhanced support, GreenPath will help you with a more in-depth analysis, as well as doing some of the work of contacting your loan providers.
• Credit report review: Certified counselors can help you with a free credit report review so you know how to read your credit report and how it affects your credit score. This review can also include a plan to help reach your ideal financial future by managing your credit.
• Simple Payment Plan: This service, powered by the payment platform EarnUp, places your loans or payments together into one place so you can easily manage them. This service can also help you figure out other ways to manage debt so you can pay it down faster.

Housing

• Foreclosure prevention and support: Certified housing counselors are available to help for free if you’re struggling with your mortgage. This help could include reviewing the financial situation with you and talking to your lender to explore options.
• Housing counseling: This counseling can involve specific topics depending on your situation, including reverse mortgage counseling, rental counseling, and homebuyer counseling.
• Housing classes: Online classes are available if you want to increase your knowledge at your own pace. Examples of classes include foreclosure education, homebuyer education, and a guide on your path to financial freedom.

Resources

• The Learning Lab: Access a free online portal for educational tools to increase your knowledge on financial topics.
• Real $tories podcast: Listen to stories from real people about different steps they’ve made in their financial journeys.
• Worksheets and guides: Access helpful and free resources, such as a budgeting worksheet, a guide to understanding your credit, and an explanation about the benefits of a debt management plan.
• Calculators: Use these calculators to figure out the numbers on loans, mortgages, and debt management plans.
• Webinars: GreenPath hosts regular webinars discussing important financial topics, ranging from buying a home to sharing stories about financial wellness.
• Credit card debt: Access loads of resources on the topic of credit card debt, from articles to educational videos and more.
• Credit decline: If you’ve been declined credit, a virtual financial coach can help you move forward and continue working toward your goals.

What we like about GreenPath Financial Wellness

• Free services: The core of GreenPath’s services are offered for free, including credit and debt counseling. This could be helpful if you’re trying to figure out how to pay off debt, but you don’t have money to spare.
• Certified and experienced: GreenPath has over 60 years of experience helping people with money management and financial decisions. In addition, GreenPath counselors are certified through the NFCC to help ensure you have a quality experience.
• Wide availability: No matter which state you live in, GreenPath is available to help. GreenPath covers all 50 states with counseling support over the phone.
• People-centered: GreenPath places a large emphasis on people, which is reflected in its nonprofit status and the services it provides for free.
• Loads of resources: If you visit GreenPath.com, you’ll find plenty of free resources to help you increase your financial knowledge and get the confidence you need to tackle your debt or credit issues.

Where GreenPath Financial Wellness could improve

• Some costs involved: Not everything provided by GreenPath is free. If you want to take advantage of certain services, such as student loan enhanced support or a debt management plan, you’ll likely have to pay some money.
• In-person locations: GreenPath may work with people in all 50 states, but only 21 states have in-person locations. Unfortunately, this leaves many states out of the picture if you want to discuss your financial wellness with a GreenPath employee in person.

What GreenPath Financial Wellness customers are saying

GreenPath Financial Wellness is rated a 3.67 out of 5.0 on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) from three customer reviews. It’s a BBB accredited business with an A+ rating and has had 11 customer complaints closed in the last three years. On the other hand, the written reviews emphasize how kind and helpful the employees were.

GreenPath, Inc. shows five complaints received in the last three years (between July 7, 2018, and July 7, 2021) in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) database. These were for “unexpected or other fees,” “confusing or misleading advertising or marketing,” and “problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan.”

On ConsumerAffairs, GreenPath Financial Wellness has 120 ratings resulting in a 4.9 out of 5.0 overall satisfaction rating.

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GreenPath Financial Wellness customer service

GreenPath Financial Wellness professionals are available by phone or at certain in-person locations. Here’s how to get ahold of GreenPath:

• By phone: Call 1-800-550-1961 to speak with a GreenPath team member. If you’re a current GreenPath client, call 1-866-476-7284 to ask questions about your account.
• In person: In-person locations are available in 21 states nationwide. Check this GreenPath locations list to see what is available near you.

GreenPath’s phone counseling hours are:

• Monday to Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m Eastern time
• Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time
• Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern time

FAQs

Bottom line

If you need help paying off debt or improving your credit, GreenPath Financial Wellness is a legitimate company that’s willing and available to help. As a nonprofit organization, GreenPath provides plenty of free resources, including debt and credit counseling, as well as housing services, webinars, podcasts, and other information to help you increase your financial knowledge.

But keep in mind that using a debt or credit counseling service might not always be the right move for every financial situation. Depending on the amount of debt you’re dealing with, you might want to go beyond free financial counseling and consider other options such as debt consolidation or debt settlement.

Disclaimer: All rates and fees are accurate as of July 8, 2021.

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