The initial experience with Aven is deceptively smooth. The application and setup process are incredibly user-friendly, making you feel like you’ve chosen a modern, tech-forward financial partner. Unfortunately, that convenience disappears the moment you try to pay down your debt faster.
The "Hidden" Principal Payment Process
Unlike almost every other modern lender, Aven does not have a "Principal Only" payment option on their website or app. To make an additional payment toward your principal, you have to navigate a frustrating manual workaround:
1. Make an additional payment.
2. Manually contact customer service to request they allocate that specific amount to the principal.
Broken Promises and Poor Support
The execution of these manual requests is where the system truly falls apart. I was told the allocation would take 3 to 5 business days. It has now been 14 days, and my payment is still sitting in limbo, unallocated.
To make matters worse, when I followed up, I was told I needed to make another monthly payment before they would properly allocate the original additional funds. This feels less like a technical hurdle and more like a tactic to keep customers in debt longer.
Bottom Line: If you plan on paying only the minimums, Aven is fine. But if you are someone who wants to aggressively pay down your principal, be prepared to jump through endless hoops and deal with significant delays.
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