Are you looking for DebtWave Credit Counseling Reviews? Keep reading!
So many of us find ourselves in debt when we do not take care of our expenses, and the worst part is that we realize this only when it’s too late.
But thanks to credit counseling companies as they can help you and educate you on how you can manage your expenses in the near future and how you can deal with your debts now.
One such company is DebtWave, and in this article of DebtWave review, we are going to tell you all that you should know about this company so that moving forward, you make prudent financial decisions only.
Summary
| Portal | DebtWave Credit Counseling reviews |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Minimum Debt Settlement Requirement | $5000 |
| Fees | $49 monthly fee |
| Features | Free consultation, Free educational materials. |
| Number of reviews | 133 |
| Community Rating | Strong |
| Website | Click Here |
Key Takeaways
- DebtWave offers Credit Counseling Services, Debt Management Services, Pre-Bankruptcy Filing & Post-Bankruptcy Counseling and Credit Coaching.
- DebtWave can help you reduce the interest rate on your credit card debt to 6-9% with their DMP.
- They charge $75 as a set-up fee for the enrollment of your debt, and $25 post-Pre-Bankruptcy Filing & Post-Bankruptcy Counseling.
- They have a rating of 4.9/5 stars on Trustpilot.
What Is DebtWave Credit Counseling?
DebtWave is a nonprofit credit counseling company that offers credit counseling and financial education to its customers free of cost and also offers debt management services.
You can immensely benefit from their credit counseling program.
They teach you how to manage your finances better, reducing the likelihood of falling into a debt trap.
DebtWave has helped more than a million people pay off more than $7 million worth of credit card debt ever since it started its operations.
Let’s dig a little deeper and find out how you can benefit from DebtWave’s services.
Features And Services Offered
Have a look at the services and features that you can expect from DebtWave:
1) Credit Counseling Services
You can hugely benefit from DebtWave if you are looking to repair your credit score, need assistance in paying off your debt, or just want to learn how to manage your finances better.
2) Debt Management Service
DebtWave’s debt management service and the program are actually meant to deal with your credit card debt only.
In order to help you in reducing your credit card debt, they offer a debt management plan, also known as the DMP Plan, which is a combination of workout arrangements with debt consolidation.
So for this, Debtwave gets in touch with your creditors to set a single repayment plan that will cover all your credit card debts.
Then you are asked to make a single monthly payment according to the budget that helps to set you free in three-five years.
DMPs are better than debt consolidation because debt consolidation requires you to take a new loan, whereas, using a DMP plan, DebtWave negotiate with your creditors to reduce interest rates and monthly payments and convince them to reduce your interest rate or penalties .
3) Pre-Bankruptcy Filing & Post-Bankruptcy Counseling
If you are thinking about filing bankruptcy, then you can get in touch with the certified counseling agents of DebtWave.
They will take a 60 minutes session with you to discuss your finances, your credit history, the amount of debt you owe, etc., to give you the needed help.
Filing for bankruptcy is a serious matter, and so you must be completely transparent to your agent during the counseling.
You can either do this offline or online, and a copy of all the information will be given to you.
Although DebtWave is a non-profit company, they charge you $25 to cover the charge of the session.
DebtWave also offers Post-Bankruptcy Counseling sessions if you have anything that you may want to talk to them about.
4) Credit Coaching
DebtWave helps you in educating about your credit score and can help you determine what is impacting your score.
For this, their certified credit coaches soft pull your credit which will not affect your score negatively.
After analyzing some factors such as your credit utilization ratio, credit mix, etc., they help you by working on it personally.
Pros And Cons
Let’s have a look at the various pros and cons of DebtWave:
Pros
- Low-Interest Rates on Your Credit Card – The average credit card interest is usually around 19%, but DebtWave claims that they can help you to reduce the interest rate to 6-9% with their DMP, Debt management plan.
- High Credit Score – With low credit card interest rates, you will naturally start paying off your credit card debt, resulting in improving your credit score. Many customers mentioned how they benefited mainly from this and how their credit scores went from good to excellent.
- Unmatched customer service – Many customer reviews mentioned how they were really happy with the customer support and timely response that they received from the team.
- Better than debt consolidation or debt settlement – A DMP requires you to pay back the amount you owe to your creditor, and you only get respite with the interest rate you were paying earlier on your credit cards. This is beneficial because you will not have to pay tax on it, and also, it will not hamper your credit score, which would have happened if you had gone for debt consolidation or debt settlement.
Cons
- Limited Availability – DebtWave is not available in Kansas, New York, Maryland, or Colorado. So if you belong to any one of these states, then you can look for DebtWave’s alternatives, such as Consolidated Credit.
- Low savings on debt – As discussed earlier, DebtWave offers a debt management plan different from a debt settlement or debt consolidation plan. This means that DMP only reduces the amount of interest that you have to pay, which means that you are only saving a couple of thousand dollars and not a huge amount.
Pricing
DebtWave offers credit and debt counseling free of cost, but they charge $49 per month if you choose to work with them and reduce your credit card debt.
They also charge $75 as a set-up fee to enroll your debt.
We don’t like the fact that although DebtWave claims to offer “free” counseling, it does charge you $25 post-Pre-Bankruptcy Filing & Post-Bankruptcy Counseling.
Minimum Debt Amount
Like all other similar companies, DebtWave too has criteria set, and they can only help people having a minimum of $5000 in debt.
How To Get Credit Counseling Service?
In order to enroll yourself in a credit counseling session, you can call them, and one of their certified credit counselors will arrange a 60-minute session with you.
During the session, the counselor will pull a soft inquiry on your credit, which will not impact your score negatively but will give your agent all the necessary details that they will need.
The agent will now enquire about your expenses, income, financial goals, debts, etc.
So that they can provide general money guidance to you. For knowing your monthly expenses, the agent may enquire about:
- Net Income
- Auto Loans
- Mortgage/Rent
- Student Loans
- Gas
- Cell Phone
- Internet
- Insurance
- Credit Cards (balances, interest rates)
- Subscription Services, etc
In case you have any student loans, personal or credit card debt, the counselor may ask you to opt for one of the following mentioned options:
- Liquidating your assets
- Enrolling in a Debt Settlement Program
- Handling the debt on your own
- Enrolling in a Debt Management Program
- Declaring bankruptcy
They will also guide you will the estimated amount you will need to pay, the estimated date, interest amount, etc.
NPC DebtWave Ratings
| Type | Rating |
| Customer Service | 4.8/5 |
| Responsive | 4.8/5 |
| Affordable | 4.2/5 |
| Debt Settlement help | 4.8/5 |
| Ease of use | 4.8/5 |
Customer Reviews And Ratings
DebtWave has been given an average rating of 4.9 stars by 133 customers, which is excellent.
So many people have shared their experiences of how they have significantly benefited from DebtWave’s service.
We feel that knowing what the real-time customers are saying about a company’s reputation is the best way to determine its reliability.
Customer Service
DebtWave has unparalleled and praiseworthy customer service.
You can get in touch with them only by calling them at (888) 686-4040 this number.
They operate on PST time and are available to answer your queries between 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Thursday and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays.
What Differentiates It?
DebtWave is an excellent credit counseling company, and we like how it offers a mid-way between debt settlement and debt consolidation.
This means you get to pay a lesser amount of credit card debt, but without impacting your credit score, paying hefty fees, or even taxes.
Also, DebtWave’s counseling has helped a lot of people make better financial decisions, so you, too, can opt for their service and get rid of your crippling debt.
Our Experience
In order to see if DebtWave is worth its salt, I got in touch with them for a free counseling session.
The session lasted for about 60 minutes, and during that time, they asked us about our financial goals and pulled out our credit details.
I must say they offered some really great insight on how I can manage my finances better and how I can avoid getting myself in huge debt.
All in all, it was worth it, and you can try their counseling session for yourself.
How We Review Credit Counseling Companies?
We take into consideration some key factors like the company’s reputation, services, features, effectiveness, customer reviews, help they offer, fees they charge, etc., to determine how good a company is and how we can review it.
Comparison
DebtWave Credit Counseling Vs. Fast Track Debt Relief
Fast Track Debt Relief is an excellent company, but it offers debt settlement services as compared to DebtWave, which offers credit counseling and credit card debt service.
DebtWave requires you to have a minimum debt amount of $5000, whereas, for Fast Track, it’s $10,000. Just like DebtWave, Fast Track offers a free consultation.
If you want to learn about Fast Track Debt relief in detail, then make sure to read our detailed review on it.
Consolidated Credit Reviews Vs. DebtWave Credit Counseling
Consolidated Credit is a great alternative to DebtWave. They offer a similar service and do not require any minimum debt amount.
It charges a monthly fee of $35, which is way less than the monthly fee of $49 charged by DebtWave.
Overall, both are good companies, and you can check out our detailed Consolidated Credit review to learn more about its service, features, etc.
DebtWave Credit Counseling Reviews Final verdict
In this article, we gave you an overview of this credit counseling company called DebtWave, and it is undoubtedly an excellent company that can help you immensely in dealing with your debt and financial situations.
We hope you found this DebtWave Credit Counseling review helpful.
FAQ’s
Is DebtWave legit?
Yes, DebtWave is legit. It has been given an A+ rating by Better Bureau Business (BBB).
Their agency is also certified by BSI, which is an independent third-party organization that monitors companies providing counseling services.
Where does DebtWave operate?
DebtWave offers services in 46 states plus Washington, D.C. It is not available in Kansas, New York, Maryland, or Colorado.
DebtWave operates according to which section?
Debtwave operates in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Are DebtWave's agents certified for counseling?
Yes, their agents are certified. Their agents complete their training from The Center for Financial Certification and are even supposed to continue their education to remain updated.
What is the monthly fees charged by DebtWave?
DebtWave charges $49 monthly fees.
Traci is a highly experienced debt resolution expert with over 8 years of expertise in helping people become debt-free through various debt relief programs. As a former employee of a well-known debt relief company, she possesses exceptional knowledge and skills to take care of debt-related issues.
When not writing about debt, Traci can be found conducting in-depth research on the latest developments in the industry to ensure that she stays up-to-date with the latest trends and strategies.