Payoff, Inc. Announced this week that founder, President and Editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post media Group, Arianna Huffington will be joining their Board of Directors. The board currently comprises of Mohamed El-Erian (Former CEO, Pimco), Joe Saunders (Former CEO, Visa), Sean Park (Founder & Chairman, Anthemis Group), Jim Lane (Former Partner, Goldman Sachs), and Scott Saunders (Founder & CEO, Payoff). Arianna who has also authored 14 books about life, business and politics is a global entrepreneur and propagator of women empowerment.

Payoff is a next generation financial services company, designing products that help people pay off their credit cards faster and save money. Payoff builds transparent and empowering financial products with the customer’s best interest in mind. Payoff is backed by top-tier venture capital firms and some of the most prominent individuals in financial services.  Based in Costa Mesa, California, they are focused towards bringing levity to financial services.

“Ariana Huffington is one of the most thoughtful people in our country about the American Dream today,” said Scott Saunders, Payoff Founder & CEO. “She is also one of the most inspirational people, having helped empower countless women, immigrants and entrepreneurs. We are excited that her involvement in Payoff will help us improve the financial lives of millions of Americans, helping Main Streets across the country thrive once again.”

Ms. Huffington recently discussed her reasons for entering into the Payoff Life, she states: “I joined the board of Payoff because I believe deeply in the need to reshape the financial services industry. The decline of the American middle class has been a concern of mine for years, and Payoff is committed to offering Americans the financial products, education, and inspiration that can improve their lives, while measuring success through the success of its customers.”

Ms. Huffington describes the decline of the middle class, based on decades of financial tricks and traps, and a rigged game in her 2011 book, Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream. She also explains how credit cards’ hidden fees, fine print, and interest rates drove millions into the shackles of owing money. “With Payoff’s first financial product, the Payoff Loan, our hope is that we will help people overcome their crippling balances, by refinancing them to lower interest rates and fixed payments. We are also aiming to inspire people to align their dreams to their lifestyle and empower them with all they need to become savers and investors, and to experience freedom,” she said.

“Arianna is a disrupter and an agent for change,” said Saunders. “She offers a strong perspective on the state of the middle class and some of the embedded issues in the financial services industry.”

(image credit: C2MTL)