Happen Bank's (formerly LendingClub) healthcare installment loan program has real strengths — but there are meaningful gaps: approval rates and merchant fees aren't publicly disclosed, the 0% APR option may be deferred interest rather than true 0%, accepting a loan temporarily affects a patient's credit score, and some patients may be required to join a credit union to qualify.
Cherry was built exclusively for healthcare, with loans as high as $65,000, a 35-second application that doesn’t hurt credit score, true 0% APR with no deferred interest, approval rates up to 90%, and the lowest merchant fees in the industry — all publicly disclosed before enrollment.
Most people who know LendingClub know it as a personal loan company — the peer-to-peer lending pioneer that became one of the most recognized names in consumer credit. What fewer people know is that LendingClub has a healthcare financing product, and that the company recently rebranded entirely as Happen Bank.
This comparison focuses on the healthcare financing side of things — not LendingClub's personal loan product, savings accounts, or checking offerings, but the installment loan program Happen Bank offers specifically to enrolled healthcare providers and their patients.
Both platforms in this comparison pay providers directly. Both serve dental practices and elective medical providers. The differences — in how credit checks work, what happens when a patient doesn't qualify, what providers pay to participate, and whether the 0% option is genuinely interest-free — are what this breakdown covers.
What Is LendingClub (now Happen Bank)?
Founded in 2006 in San Francisco, LendingClub began as the first peer-to-peer lending platform in the United States, connecting individual investors with borrowers through an online platform rather than routing loans through a traditional bank.
Since then, the company has undergone two significant transformations: it became a federally chartered bank holding company after acquiring Radius Bank, forming LendingClub Bank, National Association — a regulated, FDIC-insured institution — and has since rebranded entirely as Happen Bank, National Association, now operating as a full-service marketplace bank at happen.com under the parent company Happen, Inc. The company has originated over $100 billion in consumer credit for more than five million members since its founding.
Happen Bank today is a full-service marketplace bank offering personal loans, auto refinancing, high-yield savings, checking, debt consolidation loans, and small business loans alongside its healthcare financing product. For consumers who want a single digital banking relationship, that breadth is an asset. For healthcare providers evaluating a financing partner, it means working with a platform where healthcare is one priority among several — not the defining one.
How Does LendingClub’s (now Happen Bank’s) Healthcare Financing Work?
Happen Bank's healthcare financing is an installment loan program designed to help patients afford elective and specialty care at enrolled providers. All products are issued by Happen Bank, N.A., Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.
It's worth noting that LendingClub's revolving credit program for patients — previously offered through Comenity Capital Bank as part of LendingClub Patient Solutions — has ended and is no longer accepting new applications. What remains is the installment loan product described here.
The specialties covered include dentistry, fertility treatments, hair restoration, weight loss surgery, ophthalmology, and elective medical treatments including med spa services.
Key terms per current happen.com disclosures:
Loan amounts from $500 to $65,000
Repayment terms from 6 to 144 months
Predictable, fixed monthly payments
Fixed rates with an annual percentage rate (APR) range from 0% to 30.99%, with lowest rates for borrowers with excellent credit
Direct payment to the provider within 1-3 business days after receipt of a signed agreement
No prepayment penalties, $0 down payments
Soft inquiry for eligibility check; hard credit inquiry at loan issuance
Credit union membership may be required for some applicants
One important caveat: Happen Bank's page confirms 0% financing is available but does not specify whether this is true 0% APR or a deferred interest promotional offer.
Providers should ask Happen Bank directly to clarify the credit terms before presenting the 0% option to patients. Happen Bank also does not publicly disclose its approval rates or merchant fee structure — participation costs and eligibility criteria require a direct conversation with the company.
What Is Cherry Payment Plans?
Cherry was built around a single scenario: a patient and a provider in the same room, making a treatment decision together. Not a general lending platform that also serves healthcare, not a bank with a healthcare vertical — a financing tool designed from the ground up for the moment a patient hears a treatment cost and decides whether they can afford it.
The application takes about 35 seconds — on the patient's own phone, a tablet at check-in, or a link sent before the appointment — and delivers an instant decision that sees up to 90% approved across credit profiles. Only a soft credit check is required to determine eligibility. At no point does applying with Cherry affect a patient's credit score, at any loan amount, under any circumstance.
What approved patients receive:
Loan amounts up to $65,000
Repayment terms from 1 to 60 months
Predictable, fixed monthly payments
True 0% APR for qualified borrowers — no deferred interest, no promotional deadline, no retroactive charges
No origination fees, no hidden costs, no prepayment penalties
Approval rates up to 90% across all credit profiles
For Providers
Cherry was built to help both providers and patients thrive. Once an applicant is approved, Cherry handles underwriting, servicing, and collections. The practice receives direct payment within 2-3 business days of the patient's approval — not after a signed agreement is processed, not contingent on additional steps.
Happen Bank Healthcare Financing vs Cherry: Side-by-Side Comparison
Feature
Cherry
Happen Bank Healthcare Financing
Platform Type
Healthcare-only BNPL
Healthcare installment loan product within a full-service digital bank
Specialty Coverage
Dental, aesthetics, plastic surgery, dermatology, veterinary, vision, hearing, med spa
Dental, fertility, hair restoration, weight loss surgery, ophthalmology, elective medical, med spa
Loan Amounts
Up to $65,000
$500 to $65,000
Loan Term Length
1 to 60 months
6 to 144 months
APR
True 0% APR for qualified borrowers — no deferred interest
Fixed interest rates from 0% to 30.99% — deferred interest status of 0% option unconfirmed
Credit Check
Soft check only — never a hard inquiry
Soft check to prequalify; hard inquiry at loan issuance
Approval Rate
Up to 90% across all credit profiles
Not publicly disclosed
Merchant Fees
Starting at 1.7%
Not publicly disclosed
Provider Payment
Within 2-3 business days of approval
Within 1-3 business days after signed agreement
Credit Union Membership
Never required
May be required
Deferred Interest
Never, on any plan
Unconfirmed for 0% option
Where Happen Bank and Cherry Really Diverge
1. One Product vs One Purpose
Happen Bank is a full-service marketplace bank — personal loans, auto refinance services, high-yield savings accounts, loans to consolidate debt, online banking, business loans, and healthcare financing all operate under the same roof. For consumers who want a broad digital banking relationship, that range of products is useful. For healthcare providers evaluating a financing partner, it means working with a platform where healthcare is one of several priorities rather than the defining one.
Cherry has never offered a personal loan, a savings account, or a checking product. Every approval decision, every support conversation, every product feature exists to serve the same scenario: a patient financing care at a specific practice. That concentration shows up in approval rates, application speed, and provider support in ways a general-purpose bank's healthcare vertical typically doesn't match.
2. The Deferred Interest Question
This is the most consequential unanswered question in the comparison, and providers should get a direct answer from Happen Bank before presenting the 0% option to patients.
Deferred interest financing and true 0% APR look identical on the surface — both are marketed as interest-free. The difference emerges if a balance remains at the end of a promotional period. With deferred interest, the lender charges interest retroactively on the entire original loan amount, back to the purchase date. With true 0% APR, there is no retroactive charge under any circumstance.
Happen Bank's healthcare financing page confirms 0% financing is available but does not specify which structure applies. Cherry's true qualifying 0% APR carries no deferred interest on any plan. For a patient financing a $15,000 dental case, the difference between those two structures can be thousands of dollars in unexpected charges — and that kind of outcome damages the relationship between a patient and the practice that recommended the financing.
3. The Hard Inquiry at Loan Issuance
Happen Bank's credit check model is more patient-friendly than most online lenders — the hard credit inquiry occurs only when a loan is actually issued, not at the application stage. A patient can prequalify, review payment plan options, and decide whether to move forward before any hard inquiry appears on their credit report. That's a genuine patient-friendly feature worth acknowledging.
But a hard credit check does run when the loan closes. For patients actively managing their credit utilization, applying for other financing, or simply uncomfortable with anything that affects their credit report with Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian, that inquiry introduces a moment of hesitation. In a healthcare setting — where the financing conversation is already layered on top of the emotional weight of a medical decision — that hesitation can cost a practice a booked case.
Cherry eliminates the question entirely. The soft credit check used at prequalification is the only check that ever runs, at any loan amount, at any stage of the process.
4. What Providers Pay to Participate
Cherry publishes its merchant fees before a practice enrolls — starting at 1.7%, the lowest in the healthcare financing industry. A practice can evaluate the cost of offering Cherry before signing anything.
Happen Bank does not disclose its provider fee structure for the healthcare financing product. The cost of participation is only available through a direct conversation with their team. For a practice evaluating financing partners, not knowing the cost upfront adds an unnecessary step to the decision.
5. Approval Reach
Happen Bank does not publish approval rates for its healthcare financing product. The APR range of 0% to 30.99% suggests the platform serves a meaningful spectrum of credit profiles — but what percentage of applicants actually receive an offer is unknown without applying.
Cherry approves up to 90% of applicants across all credit profiles, including patients with limited credit history, lower scores, and financial histories that credit-dependent lenders would decline. For a dental practice, a med spa, or a vet clinic where patients arrive from every financial background, the difference between an undisclosed approval rate and a published 90% is a meaningful number of cases that either move forward or don't.
6. Specialty Coverage
The two platforms overlap on several core categories — dental treatments, elective medical, and med spa services appear on both, as do ophthalmology, hair restoration, and weight loss surgery. Where they diverge is meaningful. Happen Bank covers fertility treatments — a specialty Cherry does not serve.
Cherry covers veterinary care, dermatology, plastic surgery, and hearing care in ways that Happen Bank's healthcare page does not appear to support. For a practice in one of those specialty-specific categories, the coverage difference may be the deciding factor.
LendingClub vs Cherry: FAQs
LendingClub is still in business, operating under a new name. LendingClub Corporation — founded in 2006 as the first peer-to-peer lending platform in the United States — has rebranded as Happen Bank, National Association, operating under the parent company Happen, Inc., which trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker HAPN.
The new brand operates at happen.com and offers a full suite of banking services through its online banking platform. For existing borrowers, nothing changed operationally — loan terms, bank account access, routing numbers, and login credentials all carried over automatically.
Separately, LendingClub's revolving credit program for patients — previously offered through Comenity Capital Bank as part of LendingClub Patient Solutions — has ended and is no longer accepting new applications.
LendingClub (now Happen Bank) is a legitimate financial institution. It operates as Happen Bank, National Association, Member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender, under the parent company Happen, Inc. (Nasdaq: HAPN).
The platform holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, accredited since 2008, and a 4.7 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot across roughly 13,000 LendingClub reviews — with borrowers frequently citing fast loan approvals, a clean online application process, and responsive customer support.
One item worth knowing: LendingClub previously reached an $18 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over advertising that did not clearly disclose origination fees. The company now discloses its fee structure and credit terms clearly and upfront across all loan products. The CFPB has also cataloged several hundred complaints about LendingClub personal loans, primarily around payment processing and unexpected charges.
Common scam red flags — upfront fees before a loan is issued, unsolicited offers, requests for passwords or bank credentials — are not part of LendingClub's model. However, the BBB specifically notes that scammers have impersonated LendingClub. Any offer claiming to be from LendingClub or Happen Bank should be verified directly at happen.com before sharing a Social Security number or other personal information.
No — LendingTree and LendingClub (now Happen Bank) are completely separate companies with no relationship. LendingTree is a loan marketplace that connects borrowers with multiple lenders but does not issue loans itself. LendingClub — now operating as Happen Bank — is a direct online lender and FDIC-insured digital bank that issues its own unsecured personal loans, healthcare financing, and deposit products.
The similar names cause frequent confusion, but the two platforms operate entirely independently. If you are looking for LendingClub personal loans or patient financing options, the correct starting point is happen.com or lendingclub.com.
Yes. Happen Bank, National Association — the entity formerly known as LendingClub Bank — is FDIC-insured, Member FDIC, and an Equal Housing Lender. Deposit products including the LevelUp Savings Account and LevelUp Checking Account are FDIC insured up to applicable limits per depositor per ownership category.
FDIC insurance covers deposit products, not loan products — but operating as an FDIC-insured institution means Happen Bank is subject to the same federal banking regulations and consumer protections that apply to traditional banks.
This is a meaningful distinction from LendingClub's earlier peer-to-peer lending days, when deposits were not held by the platform itself — today Happen Bank operates as a fully regulated online bank with the same consumer protections as a traditional brick-and-mortar institution. All healthcare financing products are issued by Happen Bank, N.A., Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.
LendingClub (now Happen Bank) does not publish a hard minimum credit score for its healthcare financing product. Creditworthiness is evaluated across multiple factors — including credit usage and history, debt-to-income ratio, and income — and the full picture on an applicant's credit report plays a significant role in both credit approval and the loan offers they receive.
For LendingClub personal loans, third-party sources and LendingClub's own qualification criteria suggest a FICO score of around 600 is the practical minimum, with borrowers with good credit receiving the most favorable rates and loan terms. Those with bad credit or limited credit history may still qualify but should expect higher interest rates — the cost of borrowing increases significantly as credit scores drop. A co-borrower or joint loan option can improve approval odds for borderline applicants.
Cherry approves up to 90% of applicants across all credit profiles — including patients with limited credit history or lower scores — and never runs a hard inquiry at any stage of the process.
Both — but at different stages. LendingClub allows borrowers to prequalify through a soft inquiry with no impact to their credit score or credit report. This prequalification step gives patients a realistic view of their likely financing options and loan offers before committing to anything. Unlike some online lenders that offer a rate discount for autopay enrollment, LendingClub does not publicly advertise a rate discount tied to automatic payment setup — the rate shown at prequalification is generally the rate the borrower receives at funding.
If a patient selects a plan and moves forward, a hard credit inquiry occurs at the point of loan issuance. This hard credit check will appear on their credit report with Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian and may temporarily affect their score. LendingClub's policy is that the hard credit inquiry only occurs at loan issuance — not at the application stage. This is consistent with how most online lenders including SoFi, Upstart, and Prosper handle credit checks.
Some borrowers may look for a pre-approval option, but LendingClub doesn't use that term — prequalification is their equivalent, and it functions similarly: a preliminary eligibility check that doesn't affect credit.
Cherry uses a soft credit check at every stage — prequalification and final approval alike — so applying carries zero credit score risk at any point, regardless of loan amount.
For the personal loan product, LendingClub's own disclosures state that most members receive an approval decision within a few hours through the online application process at happen.com or the mobile app. The loan application process is straightforward — borrowers enter basic personal and financial information, select a loan purpose, and receive loan offers typically within the same session. Funding time for the personal loan product is fast — most loans are funded within 24 hours of approval, though actual timing depends on the receiving bank's processing policies.
For the healthcare installment loan product, Happen Bank's page states that providers are paid within 1-3 business days after receipt of a signed agreement. The patient-facing approval timeline for the healthcare product is not separately specified.
Cherry's application takes 35 seconds and delivers an instant decision. The practice receives payment within 2-3 business days of that approval — no additional steps from the patient required.
LendingClub Patient Solutions was the name for LendingClub's healthcare financing program, which historically offered both an installment loan product and a revolving line of credit to enrolled providers. The revolving credit program — offered through Comenity Capital Bank — has since ended and is no longer accepting new applications. Existing cardmembers are being notified separately about what the change means for their accounts.
The installment loan product continues under Happen Bank's healthcare financing vertical, now branded as "Payment plans through Happen Bank." That product covers oral health treatments and dental procedures like dental implants, fertility care, hair restoration, weight loss surgery, ophthalmology, and elective medical procedures including med spa treatments.
Per current happen.com disclosures, the healthcare installment loan product offers loan amounts from $500 to $65,000 with loan terms from 6 to 144 months, a fixed interest rate for the life of the loan, and an annual percentage rate ranging from 0% to 30.99% depending on the applicant's credit profile. There is no origination fee, no penalty for additional payments or early payoff, and no late fee charged within the grace period — though a fee does apply if a payment is more than 15 days past due. Loan proceeds go directly to the provider within 1-3 business days after a signed agreement is received.
Happen Bank does not publicly disclose its approval rates or merchant fee structure for this product — both require direct contact with the company.
Happen Bank's healthcare installment loan program works through enrolled providers — patients cannot apply independently outside of a participating practice. Enrolled practices share a QR code or application link so patients can apply for financing directly at the point of care.
The program is particularly well established in dental financing, with enrolled dental practices and oral health specialists among its most common provider types. The network also covers fertility clinics, hair restoration centers, weight loss surgery providers, ophthalmology practices, and elective medical and med spa providers. Patients should confirm with their specific doctor or provider that they participate in the program before applying, since enrollment varies by practice and specialty.
Cherry works similarly — financing is tied to the enrolled practice — but Cherry's network spans more than 60,000 providers across dental, plastic surgery, medical aesthetics, dermatology, veterinary, vision, and hearing care, with one consistent application and approval process regardless of specialty.
Several structural features of Happen Bank's healthcare financing product lead practices toward alternatives. It helps to understand what LendingClub was originally built to do: the platform's roots are in personal loans for debt consolidation, credit card debt refinancing, and home improvement — not healthcare. That general-purpose origin shapes the product even today, and practices that need a purpose-built healthcare financing partner often find the gaps add up.
Approval rates are not publicly disclosed, which means practices cannot know in advance what percentage of their patients are likely to qualify. Merchant fees are not publicly disclosed either, making it impossible to evaluate the true cost of participation without a direct conversation.
Additionally, a hard credit inquiry occurs when any loan is issued, which introduces a credit report consideration that can slow or complicate a patient's treatment decision — particularly for patients actively managing their credit utilization or sensitive to anything that affects their credit report. On top of that, credit union membership may be required for some patients, adding an unexpected step that can create friction at the point of care and affect case acceptance.
Cherry addresses all of the above: approval rates up to 90% publicly disclosed, merchant fees starting at 1.7%, a soft credit check at every stage with no hard inquiry, no credit union membership requirement, and a 35-second application that delivers an instant decision.
For practices evaluating alternatives to LendingClub's healthcare financing, the most commonly compared options are Cherry, CareCredit, and Alphaeon Credit. CareCredit is the most widely recognized healthcare financing card, though its flagship promotional offer relies on deferred interest — patients who don't pay the full balance by the end of the promotional period are charged interest retroactively from the purchase date. Alphaeon Credit is a revolving healthcare credit card with similar deferred interest concerns and a $25,000 credit limit.
Cherry offers a different model entirely: true 0% APR with no deferred interest on any plan, approval rates up to 90%, loan amounts up to $65,000, the lowest merchant fees in the industry, and direct payment to the practice within 2-3 business days. Unlike Happen Bank's healthcare financing, Cherry's terms and fees are publicly disclosed before enrollment, and no hard inquiry runs at any stage.
For patients looking to cover medical bills with a general personal loan rather than a point-of-care payment solutions product, commonly compared online lenders include SoFi, Upstart, Prosper, and LendingPoint as well as medical credit cards designed specifically for healthcare costs.
All general personal loan options follow the same model: a hard inquiry for final approval and loan proceeds disbursed to the borrower rather than the provider.
The Bottom Line
Happen Bank's medical loan product has real merit — direct provider payment, loan amounts up to $65,000, and terms stretching to 144 months. But approval rates, merchant fees, and the structure of the 0% APR option are all undisclosed; a hard credit inquiry runs at loan issuance; and credit union membership may be required for some patients.
Cherry was built for the specific moment those gaps become problems: a patient and a provider in the same room, making a treatment decision together. True 0% APR with no deferred interest, approval rates up to 90%, merchant fees from 1.7% — all publicly disclosed, all backed by a platform where healthcare financing isn't one product among many but the entire product. It's why practices offer Cherry first over the competition more than 80% of the time.
